Power Verse…… “The Lord is my shepherd (to feed, guide and shield me.) I shall not lack.” Psalm 23:1

New Year’s resolutions. Made some this year? It’s a statistical fact that 90% will be broken by the end of January. Despite that pessimistic prediction, may I encourage you to resolve in 2008 to begin to learn to travel light? Not so much when preparing for your family holiday, or that week-end break, but on the carousel of your mind, where the bags are not made of leather but of burdens. Burdens you may have been carrying around for years.

The suitcase of guilt. A trunk of discontent. A backpack of weariness. A briefcase of grief. An overnight bag of loneliness, a duffle bag of pain and a satchel of fear. You may have been carrying some of these bags around for ages, and they are becoming increasingly heavy and exhausting.

At the start of this New Year God is saying to you, “Set these burdens down! You have been carrying burdens you don’t need to bear.”

“Come to Me,” He encourages, “all you who labour and are heavy-laden and over-burdened and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.” (Matthew 11.28 Amplified Bible)

Travelling light means trusting God with the burdens you were never intended to bear. God has a plan for your life, a great race to run, free of burdens, but you have to learn to unload some of these burdens. How can you share the grace of God if you are burdened with guilt? How can you offer comfort if you are disheartened? How can you lift someone else’s load if your arms are full of your own?

For the sake of those you love, travel light.

For the sake of the God you serve, travel light.

For the sake of your own joy, travel light.

There are certain weights in life you simply cannot carry. When a father sees his young child eagerly trying to drag a suitcase off the airport carousel, what does he say? The father will say to his son what God is saying to you. “That's too heavy for you, lay it down child, I’ll carry that one.”

As you begin 2008 plan a burden free life and take God up on His offer.

“Casting the whole of your cares – all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all- on Him; for He cares for you affectionately.......” (1 Peter 5:7 Amplified Bible)