What Are You Trying To Take On Your Journey?
Heb 12:1-2 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We are all on a journey. We travel through life headed towards a final resting or dwelling place. Most of us have seen the westerns depicting settlers as they travel across the Great Plains in covered wagons. These people were Buckeyes, Hoosiers, Tarheels, Volunteers, etc., but eventually they became part of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, California, Arizona, etc. Families, friends, neighbors and strangers banded together to travel as a group hoping for a new start.
We on the other hand, as believers are on our way to a better place because we have already made a new start, a new beginning, we are new creatures, old things have passed away, behold all things are become new. So we can see they were going to make a new start, we are going because we have already started a new life in Christ.
Their lives depended upon what they were able to carry in their covered wagons. It was important what they carried. Things that seemed important back east and in the big cities were a hindrance, useless, taking up valuable space. These items often were discarded, useless and left behind along the high mountain passes, dry sandy desert stretches, and on the wrong side of swift swollen rivers.
We do the same today on our journey. We "pack" unneeded items in our lives. These weight us down, slow us down, exhaust and discourage us. What are some of things we hide in our "covered wagons?" What are some things that hold us back as Christians and for others it prevents them from making the journey because they cling to things they cannot take with them.
Let us look a t a few things we have in our wagons...
Prideful practices that paralyze our lives
Pride
Dan. 4:28-37 Nebuchadnezzar's Humiliation
28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
James 4:7-10 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Rev. 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Prov 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Selfishness - Nabal - would not share with David
1 Sam. 25:36-38 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.
1 Cor. 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Levite and priest - Luke 10:31,32 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, e passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
Greed
2 Pet. 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
Self-righteousness
Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
1 Cor 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
And we can see in many lives...
Disdainful dispositions that devastate our lives
Complaining attitude
Phil. 2:14-15 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Murmuring
Bickering
Hurt feelings
Pettiness
Fault finding (easy job - requires little or no experience)
Also when it comes to excuses, we see it can be...
Crippling cop-outs that cheat our lives
Excuses
Luke 14:18-24 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21 So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
Blame others - Adam blamed Eve for the forbidden fruit
Saul blamed the people for his disobedience
Rationalize and exaggerate our faults - Aaron claimed he was unable
Procrastinate because of the hard tasks
Pro. 22:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
Last, wee can see the effect of...
Rampant rage that ruins our lives
Anger
Eph. 4:31 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Bitterness
Many times people are bitter and do not remember the reason.
SHARE the illustration about the rock that no one would try to move - thought it was too big - always been there. Finally a little woman dug it up (easily) and discarded it.
Malice
Hatred
So what do we do? What kind of things do we need in our lives?
Eph 4:32-5:2 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
We need to...
Show kindness
Be tenderhearted
Have God's forgiveness
Use God's light (Word)
Share God's love - If we had an auto plan (like AAA), would we walk to get gas?
So if someone looks inside your "covered wagon," what will they find?
Good things or weighty and sinful things?
Gary Marcum - 050502am@LavergneFWB