Wikipedia gives the following definition for "baggage": Baggage or luggage consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveller's articles during transit. It is a nice neat definition that speaks to us moving to and fro with all of our stuff. We have a way of packing too much when we travel and holding on to things we don't need. My definition of baggage is all of life's events that shaped you into the person you are today - good or bad. When you go through things that impact you negatively, you instinctively try to hold on to them. You try to convince yourself you are remembering so it will never happen again. But, is that really true?
Relationships are hard, whether they are friends, family, co-workers or the one created through marriage. Family dynamics have a life long impact on you and your future relationships. Again, the impacts could be positive or negative. We tend to hold on to the negative ones and then seek out that familiar spirit in our relationships. Why? With so many different personalities and people in the world, why do we seek the the one we have the most in common? Our hearts and feelings play tricks on us, especially if we haven't done the work required to heal and let go of the bad experiences. If you haven't used those situations to learn from your mistakes or the mistakes of others, you cannot laugh about them as you grow older. All of life is about the extraction of the life lessons from a journey that has many bumps and hills.
Sometimes, we don't know we have baggage. When we leave home, we pack it all up and unpack it in college or on our jobs. It sits nice and neat on shelves until that one thing happens that causes it to pop out of the closet. We often think we can move on to the next job, relationship or home; hoping the next stop will be a better experience. The problem is in the move. If you don't ever unpack the issues and bring them to light, you continue to move the problems with you and they continue to appear in every city, house or relationship. Maybe its time to really unpack and consider abandoning your luggage so you leave it behind; instead of running from your problem and continuing to take them with you.
A vagrant moves without certain direction; wandering; erratic; unsettled. Don't be doomed to wander unsettled being guided by a vagabond spirit. Bible commentary notes: 'Conscience drives a man 'through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none' (Luke 11:24). All sin makes us homeless wanderers. There is but one home for the heart, one place of repose for a man, namely, in the heart of God, the secret place of the Most High. The earthly punishment of departing from God is that we have not where to lay our heads. Every sinner is a fugitive and a vagabond. But if we love God we are still wanderers indeed, but we are 'pilgrims and sojourners with Thee (1 Peter 2:11,12)'.
If thou will return, O Israel, says Jehovah, return unto me; and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight, then shall you not be a wanderer (Jeremiah 4:1).
