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It was two o’clock afternoon; my wife was not back yet due to a doctor’s appointment. I was nervous that we may miss the registration time for the Summer Conference at Hofstra University. An hour later, my wife finally came back. I asked my kids start to load their luggage and personal belongings. My wife was also preparing. I wasn’t paying much attention to whether we have everything ready or not because I was busying in checking the car and its tire pressure. Moments later in the car, I asked everyone if everything is ready to go. They all said, “Ready”. Here we go…

The traffic was heavy when entering into Bronx area and the Throngs Neck Bridge was packed with cars. With slight delay, we arrived at Hofstra University smoothly. After checked in, we started to drop off kids to their dormitories. At the Colonial Square in the campus, my daughter was unloading her luggage, my wife said, “That is daddy and mommy’s luggage, don’t get it out yet”. “No, it is mine.” My daughter responded. My wife and I suddenly realize that our own luggage which has the same style and color was left at home. At that moment, we were all laughing hysterically because of this embarrassing thing my wife and I did. We also realize that we had better find our necessities quickly since we planed to stay here for another three days.

This embarrassing experience gives me an interesting perspective. Not sure if you have ever been stayed in an apartment, my family did. At that time period, we restricted ourselves to buy only necessary stuffs because its space is limited. However, when we moved to a house, we started to cumulate furniture and a lot of things that may not be really necessary. Soon we find that we are out of space already. This leads me to ponder upon a question, “Do we carry too much unnecessary baggage during our journey of faith?” My answer would be “yes”. In fact from the apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy, we can see the similar concern. He reminded Timothy that it is imperative to be free from other civilian affairs in order to be a good solider of Christ.

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 凡在軍中當兵的，不將世務纏身，好叫那招他當兵的人喜悅‧(2 Timothy 2:4)

Therefore, anything that hinders us from focusing on God can be considered as “unnecessary baggage”.  My dear brothers and sisters, do you still remember our Lord Jesus sent out the 70 others to harvest His field? Are you aware of how he instructed them?

“Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 不要帶錢囊，不要帶口袋，不要帶鞋‧在路上也不要問人的安 (Luke 10:4)”

This is because our Lord wants the 70 others to remember that there is no need to worry about their daily needs – He will provide if they have faith in Him. And, they should not be wasting time in greeting anyone because time is precious in doing God’s work. What a promise and reminder to us. May God help us to learn how to focus on Him without carrying unnecessary baggage.