When I travel somewhere, seldom will you ever hear the words come out of my mouth, “Oh gees, I forgot something.”  I was never in the Boy Scouts, but my parents taught me well how to be prepared, how to be resourceful, and how to improvise.  On one camping trip the truck’s fuel pump went out.  Dad poured gas from the boat into a can and climbed above the truck’s engine so he could pour gas manually into the carburetor.  He told my mother, “If it runs, step on it and keep it moving.”  Something he said later he regretted as it was the scariest ride of his life.

I started three weeks ago packing my suitcase for my upcoming trip to Africa.  I want to be prepared, yet pack light.  After all, there isn’t going to be a Walgreens on the “corner of happy & healthy” where I can conveniently go.  My teammates have started teasing me, and one said, “I will just throw some stuff in a backpack the night before.”

As I stood over the top of my suitcase the other day I began to think about how people prepare for heaven.  Are they packing light, or heavy?  What do I mean by that you might ask?  Well it seems as if there are a lot of people that feel, believe, are convicted in thinking that if they “DO” enough, in the name of God of course, that God will see this, be pleased and let them into heaven.  Or if they faithfully follow a set of “RULES”, observe Holy Days and traditions, or be a “GOOD CHRISTIAN” that they will “EARN” the right to enter heaven.  The truth is they are over packing.  Their suitcase for their journey to heaven becomes heavy, weighted down, hard to bear.  Causing many to fall by the wayside, along the road of life to be robbed of their joy, their strength, perhaps their eternal life.

This is one journey where I want to pack light.  In fact so light that I don’t pack anything at all.  It is so hard for us as “doers” to do nothing.  I’m not saying that we should accept Christ into our lives and then just sit back and wait to die, or for the rapture to take place.  There is nothing wrong with sharing God’s love to others, and doing what you can for them.  Sometimes others need you, your time, or your ear more then they need tangible possessions.  The simple truth is; Jesus has already done everything for us that we need in order to enter heaven.  All we have to do is accept His death, and resurrection, His FREE gift of salvation, so I end this week by asking you, “What’s in your suitcase?”