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Weights That Hinder
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by Rev. Lynn Wheeler
07/24/07
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In Jules Verne's novel, "The Mysterious Island," he tells of five men who escape a Civil War prison camp by hijacking a hot air balloon. As they rise into the air, they realize the wind is carrying them over the ocean. Watching their homeland disappear on the horizon, they wonder how much longer the balloon will stay aloft.
As the hours pass and the surface of the ocean draws closer, the men decide they must cast some of the weight overboard, because they have no way to heat the air in the balloon. Shoes, overcoats, and weapons are reluctantly discarded, and the uncomfortable aviators feel their balloon rise.
However, it isn't long until the find themselves dangerously close to the waves again, so they toss their food overboard. Unfortunately, this is only a temporary solution and the craft again threatens to lower the men into the sea. One man has an idea; they can tie the ropes that hold the passenger car and sit on them. As they cut away the basket underneath, the balloon rises again.
Not a minute too soon they spot land. The five men jump into the water and swim to the island. They are alive because they were able to discern the difference between what was really needed and what was not. The "necessities" they thought they could not live without, were the weights that almost cost them their lives.
May we all make an honest assessment of the things in out lives. Are there things that might be a spiritual weight to you? If you eliminated them, would you have more time for the things that really matter? Ask God to show you some things you could drop that might be holding you down.
"Let us lay aside the weights and sin that so easily ensnare us." (Heb. 12:1)
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