How much stuff can one person have?

This past weekend involved a major move for our family. We moved from our house, of 6 years, in downtown Dry Ponds to the parsonage at the church we serve in the metropolis of Baton. Friday and Saturday included many hours of carrying stuff, lifting heavy things and loading trailers. As the day wore on I kept wondering who's stuff this was and where it all came from. It surely couldn't have been ours! My main thought was, how much stuff can one person have, anyway?

When it comes to our spiritual life we have plenty of stuff that we carry around with us. We don't pack that stuff up once in a while and make a major move. No, we carry that stuff around with us every day. We usually become accustomed to the weight and don't think that there is any way to be free of the burdens we carry.

Some of the stuff we carry around are things for which we need to seek God's forgiveness. We need to man up, so to speak, and confess our sin to God and ask for His forgiveness. We then need to remember that with forgiveness comes freedom from guilt. Regardless of how hard the Devil tries to keep us trapped with guilty feelings, we know God has set us free from it.

Some of the stuff we carry around are things we shouldn't be carrying anyway. It may be doubt, fear, anxiety, worry, or a host of other burdens. If they have caused us to sin, we should first and foremost ask God for forgiveness. Then we need to give it all over to Him. We need to set it at the foot of the cross and let God deal with carrying the load. When we give our problems over to Him we must leave it with Him. We have a tendency to pick our problems back up and mettle with them. Once we hand the problem over, we need to leave it with Him and ask Him to give us the strength to rely on Him to handle it for us.

Whatever the stuff is you are burdened down with today, know that God wants to alleviate you of the weight. He's happy to do it either through forgiveness or by carrying the load for you. In the end it's up to you as to who is going to carry all of your stuff. Will it be you or will you let God take the burden off of you?

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