Max Lucado - Lucado 3-in-1: Traveling Light, A Love Worth Giving, Its Not About Me.

Traveling Light

A
LOVE
WORTH
GIVING

ITS
NOT
ABOUT ME

2007 by Max Lucado.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

ISBN 978-0-8499-2046-2

Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 QW 5 4 3 2 1

Releasing the Burdens
You Were Never Intended to Bear

Traveling Light

2001 Max Lucado. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations used in this book are from the Holy Bible, New Century Version , 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Other Scripture references are from the following sources: The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. The King James Version of the Bible (KJV). The Living Bible (TLB), 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill. Used by permission. The Message ( MSG ), by Eugene H. Peterson. 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. The New King James Version (NKJV), 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (PHILLIPS). J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. The New American Standard Bible (NASB), 1960, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation. The New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. The Good News Bible: The Bible in Todays English Version (TEV) 1976, 1992 by the American Bible Society. The Contemporary English Version (CEV) 1991 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission. The New English Bible (NEB) 1961, 1970 by the Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. Reprinted by permission. The Jerusalem Bible (JB) 1966, 1967, 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday. The Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lucado, Max.
Traveling light / by Max Lucado.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-10: 0-8499-1345-4 (tp)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8499-1345-7 (tp)
ISBN-10: 0-8499-1297-0 (hc)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8499-1297-9 (hc)
1. Christian lifeMeditations. I. Title.

BV4501.3 .L86 2001
242dc21

2001026267

Printed in the United States of America

To my dear friend Joey Paul,
celebrating thirty years of words at Word,
sharing the Word

Contents

H ere are well-deserved pats on some sturdy backs:

To Liz Heaney and Karen Hillmy editors and my H assistant, midwives of the manuscript. Sorry I groaned so much.

To Steve and Cheryl Greenmy representative and my friends. Because of you, contracts are read, and bills are paid, and this old boy sleeps well at night.

To Greg PruettBible translator and Hebrew student. Thanks for the great insights.

To Eugene PetersonBible translator, author, and hero to many. Thanks for letting me use the title. And, much more, thanks for sharing your heart.

To Steve Hallidaystudy guide author par excellence.

To my friends at Thomas Nelson. Once again, youre the best.

To Laura Kendall and Carol Bartleythe great sleuths of the English language. Thanks for making me look smart.

To Jenna, Andrea, and Saramy delightful daughters. I couldnt be prouder.

To Denalynmy wife of two decades. Before you were born, where did poets go for inspiration?

To youthe reader. May the real Author speak to you.

And, most of all, to you, Jesus. The only reason we can release a burden is because you are there to take it. All the applause is yours.

1
The Luggage of Life

I ve never been one to travel light.

Ive tried. Believe me, Ive tried. But ever since I stuck three I fingers in the air and took the Boy Scout pledge to be prepared, Ive been determined to be exactly thatprepared.

Prepared for a bar mitzvah, baby dedication, or costume party. Prepared to parachute behind enemy lines or enter a cricket tournament. And if, perchance, the Dalai Lama might be on my flight and invite me to dine in Tibet, I carry snowshoes. One has to be prepared.

I dont know how to travel light.

Fact is, theres a lot about travel I dont know. I dont know how to interpret the restrictions of a supersaver seathalf price if you leave onWednesdays during duck-hunting season and return when the moon is full ina nonelection year. I dont know why they dont build the whole plane out of the same metal they use to build the little black box. I dont know how to escape the airplane toilet without sacrificing one of my extremities to the jaws of the folding door. And I dont know what to say to guys like the taxi driver in Rio who learned I was an American and asked me if I knew his cousin Eddie who lives in the U.S.

Theres a lot about traveling I dont know.

I dont know why we men would rather floss a crocodile than ask for directions. I dont know why vacation slides arent used to treat insomnia, and I dont know when Ill learn not to eat food whose names I cant pronounce.

But most of all, I dont know how to travel light.

I dont know how to travel without granola bars, sodas, and rain gear. I dont know how to travel without flashlights and a generator and a global tracking system. I dont know how to travel without an ice chest of wieners. What if I stumble upon a backyard barbecue? To bring nothing to the party would be rude.

Every travel-catalog company in the world has my credit-card number. Ive got an iron that doubles as a paperweight, a hair dryer the size of a coachs whistle, a Swiss Army knife that expands into a pup tent, and a pair of pants that inflate upon impact. (On one flight my wife, Denalyn, gave me a swat on the leg, and I couldnt get out of my seat.)

I dont know how to travel light. But I need to learn. Denalyn refuses to give birth to any more children even though the airlines allow each passenger three checked bags and two carry-ons.

I need to learn to travel light.

Youre wondering why I cant. Loosen up! youre thinking. You cantenjoy a journey carrying so much stuff. Why dont you just drop all that luggage?