He Claimed My Baggage

I was born in Church yet for a long time I was a slave to my flesh.
I grew up memorizing verses of scripture, observed religious rituals, did 'good' things, said the right words, emulated Church leaders but deep in my heart I felt a void.

I desperately needed salvation.

I continued in my 'good' deeds, indulged in oblation, practiced acts of righteousness and though I appeared clean in the eyes of men, I was entangled in sin.

As I grew older I yearned for love & acceptance and because my righteous way did not seem to help, I gave up altogether.

I still believed in God, still went to Church, paid my tithe, gave my offering, still praised and dance but my heart was far and when I lifted up my hands in worship I always felt unworthy as my heart was laden with guilt.

I was in Church but the Christ of the Church was not in me.

In my quest for one who would bear my burden, I turned to humans.
I thought if I hung with the right crowd I would be accepted but that didn't help either as just like me most of them had their baggage and were yet to find their identity.

I devoured self-help books written by big talkers who promised to help me discover myself but the feeling of satisfaction was often short-lived not because the message wasn't genuine but because I was building on a faulty foundation.

I tried to look up to Pastors too but more often than not, I was disappointed.
I realised that they are mere mortals and were like Physicians that also needed healing.
So as much as they wanted to help, they couldn't as it was a burden too heavy for them.

I searched in the wrong places and did things the wrong way - this left me frustrated until I found him.

No, he found me really - Jesus Christ did!

The Christ of the Church had been there all along but I never really reached out to him.

I was mired, helpless and hapless as I had thought I was the Captain of my fate.
He watched me struggle in vain as the weight of my baggage held me back.
I was like a ship without sail, going to and fro with no direction.
My ego and self esteem had been battered in the course of my quest for Salvation and validation still he wanted me.

His invitation to me was simple, 'Follow me and I will make you a Fisher of men'.
At first it was hard to comprehend, but I thought to just taste and see.
I handed everything to him and experienced a rebirth.

Oh what joy and light flooded my life!

All along I had searched in the wrong places. I had tried to be righteous but that wasn't my duty, all I had to do was believe and surrender.

I surrendered and he claimed the baggage of my sin and set me free from the shackles of my background.

I have come to the knowledge that my sin doesn't count anymore as the price was paid long ago on Calvary's Cross.

Jesus ransomed my soul when he walked the dusty streets through Golgotha to Calvary stripped and beaten bearing my sins and burden on him.
Though I was yet to be conceived he already reached out to me on that most memorable day in Calvary.

His last words were 'it is finished'.

Now I lift my hands in worship without guilt, the void in my heart is gone and the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead now dwells in me.

I live and love freely knowing that my baggage has been claimed because when he said 'it is finished' he meant it.

As we celebrate his resurrection I urge you to yield to his invitation and surrender all to him.

Happy Easter.