What would you do if you had to carry a car tire around with you everywhere you went for 2 years?
That may sound like a crazy question, and it is. But that’s what happened to an Elk in Colorado. For 2 years he wandered the hills and mountains southwest of Denver with a car tire around his neck. Officers with the wildlife agency had been trying to find him so they could remove the tire and set him free.
Thankfully, a local resident recently spotted the ELK and immediately contacted the Wildlife department. They were able to locate the Elk and finally set him free from his burden! The tire was full of dirt and pine needles. It weighed about 35 pounds! After 2 years of carrying around this unnecessary weight, this heavy burden, the ELK was set free and able to live life the way it was always intended to live life, FREE!
Can you imagine carrying around a 35 pound tire around your neck for 2 years?
The truth is, a lot of us are carrying around unwanted burdens everyday. So many of us feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. If we could find a way to be set free from the things that weigh us down, it would literally change our lives.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN8ZOZtO8yk[/embedyt]A Way to Be Set Free
I think this is why the invitation of Jesus is so powerful. What Jesus offers all of us is a way to be set free from those things that weigh us down. From the regret that haunts us, the sin that so easily entangles us, the guilt and shame that crush us, all those things for which we have no earthly idea how to solve.
Of course, the reason we have no earthly idea how to fix these kinds of things that weigh us down is because there isn’t an earthly way to be set free from these kinds of burdens.
But there is an answer. And it’s found in Jesus who came from Heaven to Earth to find us, set us free, and give us a new life.
The way of Jesus is a narrow way. It’s only found when we die to ourselves, are buried with Christ, and raised to new life. The Apostle Paul said it this way…
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2.20
Paul found new life only after being crucified with Christ. He discovered that all his sin and shame was removed only after wholly and completely trusting in Jesus who loved Him and gave His life on the cross so he could live.
Maybe you’re living but you’re not really living. Maybe you feel like you’ve got a 35 pound weight around your neck. If so, there is a better way to live, a different way to live. There is a narrow way that leads to life, real life. It’s found by trusting in Jesus.
It’s my hope and my prayer that you’ll put your trust in him. My prayer for all of us is that we would allow Jesus to set us free from the burdens we carry and live life the way we were intended to live life. FREE.
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