After tearing away from the new family we made in Argentina, we boarded the big comfy bus and headed for the border. Pretty soon I looked out the window and was dumbfounded by what I saw: the beautiful snow capped Andes Mountains. The further we drove, the more I wanted to jump off the bus and throw snowballs at my compatriots.
We finally arrived at the border right before sundown, and I proceeded to wreck a couple of faces with the freshly fallen powder. Once the fun was over, we finally had to be grown ups and cross the border.
As I walked into the room, I was greeted by a hard-faced man. He looked into my eyes, “Frutas?” he inquired. I answered a confident, “No,” and began to turn back into the line. After scrutinizing my response as with a fine-toothed comb, his eyebrows furled as he stepped back into my line of sight and much closer to my face. “Frutas?” he inquired in a more assertive tone, his eyes piercing my soul like a javelin. “No,” I exclaimed, in a slightly less confident tone. His persistence made me question my own innocence. “I don’t think so… I hope not…” as a sudden wave of terror washed over me. Judging by his face, this fruit smuggling business is a pretty serious matter.
I continued waiting next to the baggage scanner for my turn, as a big bag of fruit began to pile up on the other side. A team member who speaks Spanish announced to the entire room that if they found another piece of fruit, they would run everyone’s bags through the machine again (a huge inconvenience, as they had already started over a couple of times, and the line was backing up) and the person who possessed the contraband would be fined $200. Everyone checked their bags and gave up the last of their deeply stashed illegals. The bags were run through the machine, and we continued on our way through the border into our Chilean destiny.
So, why am I writing this blog, you ask? Where’s the lesson? I’d like for you to join me on my trail down the rabbit hole, we’re gonna catch a big one.
Everyone said they didn’t have any fruit, yet there is a fairly large bag of it sitting on the table, and only after they realized that the consequences of possessing this contraband would vastly outweigh the benefits, did everyone go through their bags and give up their last bits of precious food.
Reasons for keeping it against the will of the border guards included: it’s not that big of a deal, it’s just fruit, I forgot I had it, what could it really hurt?, I’m about to eat it anyway, I’ve gotten away with it before, and my personal favorite, screw them, it’s my fruit so I’m gonna eat it.
All seemingly valid arguments, however, the reason they are so strict about this law is because fruit carries little bugs that can’t crawl or fly over the mountains. Chile doesn’t want the bugs from Argentina contaminating their crops and vice versa.
So, as you may have found out by now, this blog is not about people and their fruit. It’s about people and their baggage.
Just like we cross over many borders in the World Race where we cannot bring certain things across the border for fear of contamination, we also cross into new seasons in our lives where our old baggage and mindsets can contaminate the new season and hold us back from who God is truly calling us to be. What we are holding onto may not have been contraband in the old season, however, it will debilitate us, or far worse, someone else, in the season we are stepping into.
We will not be allowed to step into the next season of our lives until we let go of brokenness, unforgiveness, addictions, and toxic relationships.
In Colossians 3:7-10, Paul begs the church in Colossae to remove their old nature and step into who God is calling them to be.
“You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”
So, my friend, what is it that is holding you back from stepping into the next season of your life?
Is it a habitual sin that you just can’t seem to shake? A person that you just can’t seem to forgive? Maybe some bad influences in your close friend circle?
This Christian life is a race that we can’t afford to lose. It’s not just our lives that are at stake. There are new people and relationships begging for us to show them the light of Jesus, but we can’t proceed unless we leave our baggage behind.
Hebrews 12:1-2
“let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.”
