Good Baggage?

I think most people would agree that baggage is something that should be left out of most relationships, especially romantic ones. In dating, baggage can come in the form of unhealed trauma or not working to identify certain triggers. It can be anything from children from previous relationships to divorce, or medical issues. However it presents itself, we don’t view it as a complimentary item that we bring along with us as we board the plane to get to know new people. And no matter our preference, there is something we all identify as “baggage” for someone else.

When identified, we encourage others to get to the root of its existence in order to find healing. But what if some baggage can be seen as beneficial? Can there be a such thing as good baggage?

The Check Bag Process

If you’ve ever flown on a plane, you understand how checking and claiming luggage works. Once you arrive at the airport, an agent will assist you with any luggage that needs to be checked. You will then be asked to weigh your suitcase or bag. If your luggage is overweight, you will either be asked to remove some items to transfer them to another bag or you can pay an overage fee. Once this process is completed, a label will be attached to your bag that will have a specific ID and flight information in the event your luggage is lost in transit.

Claiming Your Bags

When it’s time to claim the luggage you checked upon initial departure, you get off the plane and make your way to the baggage claim area. If your bags have made it to the destination with you, they will show up on the converter. Once they do, you grab them, make sure they’re yours, and you’re ready to go.

Bad Baggage Turned Good?

When we think of baggage in this way, it doesn’t strike us as good or bad. It’s just a mediocre occurrence that works when it works. But when it doesn’t work, it can turn into a pretty troubling ordeal. However, baggage in relationships always seems to be seen as an unpleasant experience. But there is one relationship that baggage turned out to be a good thing.

The Gospel is for Baggage

The Gospel introduces us to someone that has dealt with baggage very well. He is the expert agent in the baggage checking and claiming processes. And He voluntarily involved Himself in these processes for our benefit.

Christ’s mission and intention when He came to earth as God incarnate was to take on all of humanity’s baggage. When the assignment was presented, Jesus, although heavy with the burden of being separated from the Father, gladly took on the task to do what we couldn’t do for ourselves. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “for our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

We are invited and even strongly encouraged to drop our baggage off with Jesus. This is an act Christ awaits to see. It is an act that the angels in heaven rejoice over. And when our bags are dropped off with Christ, we don’t have to worry ourselves with where they will go. Jesus has already taken it all to its proper destination.

The Weight of Calvary

Calvary was our check baggage destination. When Christ came, the cross was always the final destination for our sins. We’re told in Romans 6:6 that, “we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Our freedom was bought through the carrying of our sinful baggage by Christ to the cross where He put it to death once and for all. It’s just up to us to accept that this destination is where we want to leave it.

Once we reach our check bag location to drop off all that keeps us separated from God, we don’t do here what we would do at the airport. We don’t reclaim it. We walk away from the check baggage station to never return to claim anything we’ve dropped off. Because truth is, anything that we’ve left at the cross, we shouldn’t desire to ever see again. It should pain us to revisit those locations that caused God’s heart pain and left us void of peace, joy, and true fulfillment. And it should bring us joy that Christ saw the person attached to our baggage as someone worth saving so much so that our baggage was worth carrying.

Good Baggage

If you’ve ever related the word “baggage” to negativity and unpleasant experiences, let Calvary be a friendly reminder of its beauty. Jesus taking on our sins was the one instance that can always be seen as carrying good baggage. And this good baggage is what ushers us into the never failing, always pursuing, overwhelming goodness of God.