Imagine a backpack on your shoulders. Now, imagine filling it with your 'essentials,' whatever those are. Maybe it's books, a laptop, deodorant, clothes, photos... the list goes on and on. Keep filling it up. Now, imagine the weight of it. How heavy is it, and how much would that weight hold you down? Imagine it.
Today, I walked through the airport with 60 pounds of baggage, and walking through the airport with with 60 pounds of baggage is heavy. With bags on bags on bags strapped across my shoulders, it literally feels like the weight of the world is holding me back. I want to walk fast, but I can't. I want to get where I'm going, but I'm not. I want to feel free, but I don't, all because of stuff.
Packing for a six month stent in another country is difficult. "You may need this, you may need that, and oh, you can't forget this," roll constantly through the mind, creating a sense to need to stuff one's entire life into as few suitcases and bags as possible. Here's a hint from someone who's learned the hard way: you don't need to pack up your entire life and bring it with you because if you do, you're just going to end up with a lot of 'stuff' weighing on your shoulders.
From what I've learned, this is a lot like life. The more stuff I have, the more weighed down I feel. The more stuff I collect and try to put in my bag of 'essentials,' the more tied down, attached and stuck I feel. 'Stuff' does this to us. It makes us feel attached, and it makes it steals our hearts. I literally probably wore 40 percent of the clothes and shoes I brought, and I even packed decorations for my wall. Why? Because I was attached.
The idea here isn't packing, friends. The idea is attachment and storing up treasure. By the looks of what I put into my 'essentials' bag, I'd have to say I've stored up a lot of treasure in this world that is doing nothing but really holding me down and attaching my heart to things it doesn't need to be attached to. My treasure has been in the wrong place, and I can literally feel it weighing on my shoulders.
Where is your treasure, and again I ask, how heavy is your essentials bag? Don't store treasure up here. It will only hold you down and steal your heart, and you can't take it with you when you're gone anyway.
Travel light.
We're only here a short while, and we're heading toward eternity.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: "Where your treasure is, there is where your heart will be also."