The Remains Of My Days

Many times I have found myself looking at an old photo of myself in the very prime of my life at age 16. Those were indeed days when I felt the best about myself. My weight had not skyrocketed, my hair was long and healthy and of course the wrinkles that now define my face were simply non-existent. That picture hangs on my fridge with many other friends and family loved ones. I see it every day and I have to admit that most of the time it draws me back to 1970 and I sharply feel the sting of those days gone by and what "isnt" anymore. You know it is impossible to return to those times and feelings and dwelling on them most of the time only brings anguish and a sense of loss. My journey has brought me a very long way from that place and there have been many many wonderful moments and memories made since then that would be worth lingering on however, lingering is the key word here. To linger means " to stay, remain, persist, endure or spend a long time over something. Having memories, good or bad is one thing, but lingering on them is quite another. It's not a place that is good for us to stay too long because we can easily get caught up in " what once was" or "what could have been" and that luggage is too heavy for us to carry around. All of us could most likely say that we have enough on our plates on a day to day basis that would keep our minds and bodies racing. Our lives are usually filled with a multitude of thoughts, choices and decisions to be made on a regular basis and there is simply no time to linger over what once was, at least not stay in that lingering state too long. Choices to keep drifting backwards in our minds will only hinder our journey. Two steps forward, one step back. . . . Can't make much progress that way. It doesn't simply slow us down in our daily walk it also hinders our mental capacity to work through our problems and issues. If we are always hauling around thoughts and memories and regrets of what could have been it greatly hampers what could be on the path of today's destination. I for one profess to be a new creation in Christ, old things have passed away and all things have become new. It is a new path that I am on. I have a very new destination and my luggage or old wardrobe will not work at all for where He is taking me now. I now am packing so light these days that I'm down to one bag of necessary items and here's the best part of all. . . . . . He even carries THAT bag for me! it says in Matthew 16:24 Jesus said,  "if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever will save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it". We must lay down those old burdens, those old pieces of luggage that weighed us down. It is very selfish and self indulgent to want to hold onto the old things that we thought made us feel complete or we cherished more than we cherished Christ. Those things were who we were, who we used to be. To hold onto them says that what Christ did on the cross for us was not enough, it says " I need Christ but I need these things too!" You can't have both! He is either all we need or his sacrifice of love means nothing. It is not the Fathers desire for us to carry anything. His son carried it all! In Gods word we are promised healing and restoration and through salvation our journeys' luggage has been loaded on the back of our Savior and he deposited it into the Sea of Forgetfulness. We are new creations and are now no longer required to carry the remains of who we once were. So, today I walked past my old photo on the fridge, smiled and thanked the Lord for giving me good days and thanked him as well for the better days that are coming.