Read Acts 26:1-15
“The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child...”
The journey of Lent forces us to come to terms with ourselves. We ask questions like “Where have I come from?” “Where was I when the grace of God encountered me upon life’s broken path?” “Who is it that I have been and who is it that God is shaping me to become?”
We recognize with Paul that this life as a Jesus follower doesn’t take place in a void. Paul, like us, was a collector. He had collected assumptions, achievements, lets downs and great joys. He had collected the esteem of others and a deeply rooted understanding of God. Paul had collected admiration, approval, and insecurities. When Paul met Jesus, he was already carrying quite a bit of stuff that he'd collected along the way. We too are collectors. Along life's path we have collected a series of experiences, regrets, misfortunes, disappointments, struggles, pain, insecurities, and poor decisions. We have collected thoughts and beliefs about the very nature of what this life is all about. Some of us may even, with Paul, be able to talk about our collection of deeply religious moments from our past.
Yet, it isn’t simply our futures that are taken up into the hands of God...it is also those pasts, our collections. When Jesus meets us and calls us, we come face to face with the way things once were. He often calls into question our collections.
"What are you holding?" he asks. "The journey we take requires you to travel light? It may be time get rid of some of the collections that have cluttered up your life, those that make the invitation to grace and transformation difficult to receive."
For some of us this is such a deeply disruptive moment. We aren't sure what we'd do without our collections. Our sense of security is unsettled. Our pride is crushed. Our accomplishments are challenged. Our pasts seem irreparably sinful and without hope of forgiveness. But redemption! But redemption is the process by which God takes even our pasts and incorporates them into the abundance of His grace, changing us through and through. God sorts through our collections, unbinding us from those artifacts that weigh us down, redeeming those pieces that might be used for His glory in the future, and replacing those items that are of little use.
This journey will remind us that when we meet Jesus, nothing stays the same.
Be honest:
What have you collected along life's journey that is too heavy and keeps you bogged down?
What is Jesus calling into question in your life?
What might you need to let Jesus take from you so that you can travel light?
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