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Monday, February 8, 2010

The (True) Tale of Two Guests

Not long ago I observed two guests who checked into a hotel. One was a lady of middle age, who did not appear to have much education beyond high school. She was friendly and kind, and pleasant to speak with. She carried herself with dignity and grace, and communicated effectively to the front desk staff. The second guest, a gentleman perhaps in his mid-50s, dressed successfully, and was overheard to mention his purpose of stay was research for a project. He was an architect, therefore a well-educated man.

What set these two guests apart was not their appearance, the vehicle in which they arrived, nor the communication abilities. Rather was the manner in which they brought their luggage / belongings into the hotel.

The lady of normal means and appearance secured one of the two available luggage carts and proceeded to bring in her belongings. Both bags. Yes, that's all, just two bags. She made the trip to the elevator and to her room just fine, thank you. The luggage cart was used to perfection.

The architect, however, parked his car under the canopy and made his first trip to his assigned room with a load of luggage. He came back downstairs for a second load. This time he struggled just a bit with the awkward equipment he was bringing in. A third load and he was almost finished. A look of desperation was on his face on his fourth and final trip. Finally, he could come back downstairs and move his car to a parking place in the lot.

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit as I compared these two guests, literally checking in within minutes of one another. Being a minister, these are the kinds of events that are spiritualized. How often do we try to make our relationship with Jesus to be so difficult? We tend to try to carry the load all on ourselves. We become weary at the tasks that could be made so much simpler.

Scripture teaches us that Jesus wants to lighten our load and carry our burden. Have you allowed Him to do that in your own life?

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