Morning Devotional

December  12, 2005
"Oh No, Not Again"         
    by Don Emmitte

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No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. (Philippians 3:13-15 NLT).

I just saw an interesting book title on the Today show, 50 Relatives Worse Than Yours, by Justin Racz. It is described as a book that will make you look forward to your next family gathering. One reviewer said: “They’re kooky, they’re crazy—50 Relatives Worse Than Yours is a nightmarish family reunion that will have you appreciating your own weird clan. There’s the Family Newsletter Publisher who keeps you updated on how Uncle Carl’s hip is doing; there’s Holistic New Age Aunt, who knows Madonna from Kabbalah class but refuses to introduce you because that would be bad karma; and there’s Child Who Was in a National TV Commercial, who has more money than you do. And then there’s Uncle Speedo, the Monopoly Bank Thief, and Your Son, the Tenant.”

The more I thought about this humorous offering, the more I began to think about the many experiences that people carry with them about their own past. In 1845, the ill-fated "Franklin Expedition" sailed from England to find a passage across the Arctic Ocean. The crew loaded their two sailing ships with a lot of things they didn't need: a 1,200-volume library, fine china, crystal goblets, and sterling silverware for each officer with his initials engraved on the handles. Amazingly, each ship took only a 12-day supply of coal for their auxiliary steam engines. The ships became trapped in vast frozen plains of ice. After several months, Lord Franklin died. The men decided to trek to safety in small groups, but none of them survived. One story is especially heartbreaking. Two officers pulled a large sled more than 65 miles across the treacherous ice. When rescuers found their bodies, they discovered that the sled was filled with table silver.

Those men contributed to their own demise by carrying what they didn't need. But don't we sometimes do the same? Don't we drag baggage through life that we don't need? Perhaps it’s evil thoughts that hinder us or bad habits that drag us down. More than likely it will be grudges and hurtful experiences that we don't let go.

Of course those of you who know me would also know that I would never condone or justify simply ignoring these things. They are real. They do hurt. However, while we cannot control what others do to us most of the time, we can control how we react to these experiences. This is especially true after we remove ourselves from the source of our pain. Now more than ever, commit yourself to letting go of the baggage that continues to assault your emotions. Forget the past and move on to that high mark in Christ.