Poem : The Bag

Poem : The Bag

Scripture : Psalm 39:12

Poem

Imagine for a moment
People walking around with an extra bag with them

Almost everyone has a bag of their own
Very few without

The bag is plain, about the size of a suitcase
There are no wheels

This person shuffles the bag from one hand to another
Rules state they cannot carry the bag over the shoulder

Moment after moment
Day after day

They carry this bag, when they go someplace
They set it outside, they pick up when they leave

This could be work, home, church
The store, many places, they even have a bag holder for people

It’s so common, businesses accommodate for peoples bags
They say it’s normal to have your own bag

When a person comes home, goes to bed
They put the bag down outside their room

There is very little relief from carrying their bag
What is in the bag you ask?

No two bags are alike, no two bags weigh the same
It’s different for every person who carries this type of bag

The older we get, the heavier the bag CAN become
Bad memories, Guilt, Shame, Depression are among popular items carried around

The enemy walks beside us reminding us daily
HEY…what’s in your bag? Can you tell me about it?

We are hesitant to say for we will feel shame
The enemy laughs and goes about his business keeping us company

We can suffer mental and physical problems from carrying our bag
God reminds us to stay in his word often

He reminds us forgiveness, his Yoke his light
He uses many parables, examples to show his Love

He has an entire system to help relieve us from carrying our bags
All we must do is turn around, hand it over to him

This is harder than it sounds, we get comfortable in our discomfort
We like routine, we like what we can see

Try for a few days, say “God, here is my bag”
Please keep an eye on it for me

Before long, people will look at you differently
They’ll ask, where is your bag?

You state, “Good thing you asked”
‘I gave mine to God, he is keeping an eye on it for me”

it’s been awhile since I carried my bag
It’s different to see people without bags

My body, mind and soul feel so much different
You should give it a try yourself, give your bag to God.

Amen!

Story Behind the Poem

This story was originally going to be called Suffering Silently. �It was a way to describe people and what they carry around trying to keep an positive vibe about themselves. �Every go on vacation? Have you tried to carry an extra bag of items YOU HAVE to take? It can be books, comfort food, something that doesn’t fit in your regular suite cases. It can be a pain, you pick your purse, backpack or small carry on, you take the other bag or two. Your hands are full, then there is this “extra bag” of stuff you think you need.

This example represents things we carry around with us in our spiritual lives. The enemy is all too willing to remind us, keep us down. Regardless of your station in life, remember God shows us many examples of his love, before we can accept his Love fully, we have to ACCEPT IT. It’s like a habit, we have to force ourselves to do it enough until the behavior becomes a habit, like brushing our teeth. Ever left the house and forgot to brush your teeth? Don’t you feel odd when you realize your teeth are brushed? You blow in your hand to see if you have bad breath?

Treat God’s Love and his ability to take stuff from our lives, stop several times a day, yell, scream, type, text someone, post on social media. GOD this is your stuff, here is my bag. Before long, it’ll be like your habit of brushing your teeth. It�ll feel odd when you start to carry around things, you�ll go �oh yeah�, God here is more stuff for my bag.