CHRISTIAN
LIVING, BURDEN OF

A MAN one day was rushing to catch a plane. His plane was to leave at five but he left his watch home, so he was not quite sure what the time was. He came upon a gentleman lugging two heavy suitcases. The man who was rushing to catch his plane said, “Sir, excuse me, but I notice you have a watch. Could you tell me what time it is?”

The man, with great relief, dropped the suitcases and looked at his watch. He said, “Sure! It’s 10:05 a.m. and it’s fifty-three degrees outside. In Singapore it’s seventy-four degrees right now and in Japan it’s sixty-two. In Canada it is thirty-seven degrees outside and in the Congo it is one hundred and twenty degrees.”

The guy stared at the suitcase man for a second and then said, “Your watch told you all that?”

“Oh yes,” the man continued, “in fact, the Dow Jones is at 10,500 and the NASDAQ is 3,500. Anything else you want to know?”

“Wow! I can’t believe that you got all that from your watch. Look, I have to run and catch my plane but I’ve got to have that watch. I will give you one thousand dollars for that watch!”

“Oh no. I’m sorry. I can’t sell it to you. You see, I’m an inventor and I made this watch for my son. In fact, I’m on my way to give my son the watch now.”

“Sir, I don’t think you understand. I’ve got to have that watch. I’ll give you twenty-five hundred dollars for that watch right now.”

“I’m sorry, but this watch is only for my son.”

“I’ll give you five thousand dollars!”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“Look, I’ve got to catch my plane, but if you give me that watch right now, I’ll give you ten thousand dollars. I’ll give you the money right now.”

The inventor reluctantly pondered the proposition. He figured that at $10,000, he could afford to invent another watch and pocket some extra change. “OK, why not!” He took the watch off and gave it to the man in a hurry.

The traveler wrote a check for ten thousand dollars and took the watch. He proudly held his new purchase and began heading toward his gate. Just as he started to run to make his flight on time, the inventor ran after him, struggling to carry his two suitcases, and yelling for the man to stop: “Excuse me, sir—just a minute! You forgot your batteries!”

The hurried traveler looked shocked when it dawned on him that the batteries were in the suitcases. He did not realize that his purchase came with extra baggage.

Many Christians feel this way in their spiritual walks. When many of us met Jesus, we were fascinated by Him. We learned about the plan of salvation and figured that we had scored such a sweet deal. But after we got saved, we joined the church, met Christian friends, and then learned about the suitcases. All of a sudden, living the Christian life became heavy and burdensome. What we thought was going to be an easy thing now carried with it luggage that would seem to bury us.

The good news is that although many Christians feel that the Christian life is burdensome, it does not have to be this way.88

[Discipleship; Spiritual Life, Manifestation of; Power.Accessing]

Matt. 11:29–30; 1 John 5:3