Suitcases

Traveling can really open your eyes to many things.  Traveling to and from Guatemala and El Salvador, through all the airports and baggage lines, I saw so many differently shaped, sized, and patterned suitcases, duffle bags, and other carrying case paraphanelia.  I started thinking how similar these are to our own God-given and designed bodies. 

It says in Psalm 139:13-14:

For you created my inmost being;  You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Your works are wonderful, 
I know that full well.

God designs each of our bodies uniquely.  None of us look the same although we may have similar features.  Even identical twins look a little different.  But our bodies aren’t what make us who we are.  It is what is inside… God doesn’t just design a body and put us into it… He knows our souls and uniquely knits and forms each of out bodies for our soul. 

As I looked at the suitcases I thought how similar they were to our bodies… this is the same thing we do with choosing a suitcase or carrying bag.   We think about what needs to be brought and fit in the bag and then choose a bag based on those things.  Both our bodies and suitcases are simply carrying cases for what is inside.  And from the outside- you can’t tell what is inside although you can tell your bag from the outside through its design or brightly colored ribbons.  In one is a unique person and soul, and in the other is the stuff that unique soul needs to have with them for their travel whether clothes, gifts, or engineering equipment for whatever their journey needs. 

Being reminded of how uniquely we are each made was such a cool gift- especially when people start to complain about the color of their hair, or their eyes, or what their body looks like and how they wish these things were different.  Our bodies were uniquely designed for us as a special gift from God for our souls.  They are simply a carrying case and we don’t need to become attached to them or overly obsessed about our bodies.  They are simply a temporary residence for our soul that we are to care for in this short period that we have them.