Excess Baggage

Some time ago the city of Waco was selling compost this past Saturday. Having recently become the owner of a truck, I was looking forward to getting a load for my yard.

They told me that my truck could probably not carry more than half a yard. Since I didn’t know otherwise, I figured I could take their word for it. They were right. It weighed my truck down enough that the mud flaps dragged the ground sometimes. It was almost more than the truck could take.

I took my time getting home from Waco, and as soon as I got here I did exactly what my truck needed; I unloaded it. There was no sense carrying that compost around for the rest of the day. The truck ran better and easier without the load. It was that easy.

Then I got to thinking about carrying loads. As people, we tend to carry hurts and failures around with us like a load of compost. These things weigh us down so much that we cannot go as well as we could otherwise. Yet, instead of unloading them, we often carry them for years.

Over the years, if you continue to add to the load, it gets to be too much. People suffer breakdowns. At best, many people give up any hope of knowing joy in their lives.

It is time to dump the load. Get rid of the burden that keeps you dragging
through life. Find a friend. Friends are glad to share the burden and lighten your load. True friends won’t pass it on, won’t spread your stuff, and won’t break your confidence. If you need some of these, I have a church full of them. We share the weight and lighten one another’s load.