The Rev Richard Baxter urges readers to lighten their load as a new year dawns.

MY granny was an intrepid traveller. She didn’t go to many different places, but the journeys she did make were much more difficult and challenging than they needed to be.

Twice a year she would travel from her home in Belfast to spend a few weeks with her son and his family in the south of England.

Since her husband had worked on the railway, she was entitled to discounted ferry and rail travel, so she refused to fly.

She also refused to accept any family help.

We weren’t allowed to know when she was going, or to offer a lift to the ferry.

Maintaining her independence was very important.

The concept of travelling light was alien to her. Every journey involved a huge case, which she couldn’t lift by herself. It made no difference that she had wardrobes of clothes with everything she needed at both ends of the journey. She still felt the need to transport most of her worldly goods on every trip.

On departure day, my granny just stuffed her case to bursting point and summoned a taxi.

The taxi driver was expected to manoeuvre her case in and out of the car, and at the train station she would look for a porter to get her onto the train.

From there on she relied on the goodwill of strangers to get her on and off ferries and trains, lifting her luggage containing everything but the kitchen sink. One poor traveller who nearly put his back out carrying her case off the train, had the temerity to ask: “What on earth have you got in there, missus?” only to be rewarded with the two-word reply: “A body!” before my embarrassed uncle whisked his mother away to his car.

The beginning of the year is a good time for each of us to ask whether we are carrying too much luggage. When Jesus called his disciples, it was what they left behind, not what they brought with them, that was the sign of their commitment to him. (Matthew 4.18-22)

Travelling light was the order of the day when Jesus sent his followers out on mission trips (Luke 9.1-3 and 10.1-4). His instructions are about what should be left behind, not what should be taken.

The advice in the letter to the Hebrews is similar. We are urged to leave behind us everything that gets in the way, including the sin that holds us back, so we can run with determination the race before us. (Hebrews 12.1-2) Carrying too much stuff just gets in the way.

What are you carrying on your journey that you could do without?

The weight of old resentments or memories of past grievances are burdens we would not miss. The guilt of previous mistakes or regret at opportunities squandered will be of little help on the path ahead. And too often, out of pride, we strive to carry single-handedly responsibilities which really ought to be shared with others.

Jesus knew our tendency to cling on to our burdens long after they cease being useful to us. “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest”, he said. (Matthew 11v28)

January is a good time to review what loads we may be carrying that really ought to be laid down, if we are to give our best in the race 2018 sets before us. Perhaps it is time to lighten the load.

The Rev Richard Baxter is minister at Fort William: Duncansburgh MacIntosh linked with Kilmonivaig