Dropping the Pack

When Glen and I walk, he is navigation and I am procurement.

Early in our walking together, we would each come to a street crossing and crane our necks around each other trying to see if it was clear to cross.  We didn't always agree on this, so often, there were many missed starts, hesitations, and needless waits.

We finally decided that Glen would be the one to check that the way was clear and to communicate this to me.  This system works almost flawlessly for us and is how he became "navigation."  

About the same time our walks became long enough that I found it necessary to carry a pack.  I carry the pack, first of all, because it is my pack.  I also want to make sure that I always have in it what I want to have available.  This is how I became "procurement."  

My goal with the pack was to gradually add weight to help make me comfortable with a backpack for hiking.  My pack has gotten heavier with time, especially as we enter summer and find it necessary to carry more water.

On a long walk, I am ready to drop the pack as soon as we get home.  Usually it is the first thing I do, dropping it on the kitchen counter.  While I don't find it difficult to wear while walking, as soon as I don't have to carry it anymore, I take it off.

If I were to continue to wear the pack once we were home, or even the rest of the day, that would be fruitless, would hinder my ability to do many things, and would be just plain silly.

Often times in our lives, we carry the guilt of our sins, failures and temptations like a pack.  It is a heavy burden that we just don't seem to be able to slide off our back.  The sad thing is, it is fruitless for us to continue to carry that weight.  

"But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, 

sat down on the right hand of God;" 

Hebrews 10:12

There has been one sacrifice necessary for the redemption of our sins, and only one necessary.  That sacrifice was paid in full by the Lord Jesus Christ.   Let us believe this and trust in the power of His sacrifice.  To continue to carry our packs of guilt for past sins only hinders us from fully following His will and trusting Him in the present.  

This reminds me of one a verse from one of my favorite hymns, "It Is Well" by Horatio Spafford:

My sin, Oh the bliss of this glorious thought

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Oh my soul.

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.