Hikes & Broken Watermelons

To my readers,

In the Gospel of Mark, we read a passage about Peter declaring before all the disciples that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah, the savior of the world.  Here is this pinnacle moment where the disciples are empowered, ready to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth.  In their minds, they are unstoppable, invincible, and ready to do whatever it takes.  I am nearly certain that these twelve young men for the next minutes talked about the great things they are going to witness. 

The next thing we find is that Jesus explains to them what it really means to follow him.  He tells them that he will suffer, die, and they had a cost as well.  The writer of the Gospel of Mark puts it this way,

“Then, calling to the crowd to join his disciples, he asked, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Mark 8:34-37, NLT.

What I find interesting is that yesterday, our men’s Bible study did what is called a ‘cross walk.’ We each picked up a XXL watermelon and carried it on a silent one-mile hike.  This watermelon was to represent our burdens and the weight that we carry everyday in our lives.  At the end of the walk, we end a cross where we were able to lay our burdens down at the cross. It is a very sobering reminder that Christ has paid the price for our burdens, and tells us to “come to him-all of us who are weary and who carry heavy burdens and he will give us rest,” (Matthew 11:28).

The one thing that stuck out the most to me happened, as we were packing up.  One of the guys in our group picked up his watermelon and slung the cross over his shoulder.  After a few steps towards the truck, the watermelon slips out of his hand and smashes into the dirt below.  We laughed it off, however, what I found so incredible is that we can’t hold onto our burdens and carry our cross as well. 

We must let go of the burdens we’ve become comfortable carrying.  We must lay our past, burdens, futures, failures, pain; everything at the foot of the cross and call out to Jesus.  Jesus paid that price and has already said, “I’ll carry your load. Let go. I got this.”  Whatever it is that you are holding on to- let it go.  What good is it to try and hold onto something that we are going to essentially drop and smash all over the ground?  Give it the only person who can carry our burdens. Remember that its only when we have let go of our burdens are we able to pick up his cross and follow Jesus.  What watermelon/burdens are you holding onto? 

Simply,

Tex G.M. Rule

"Then, calling to the crowd to join his disciples, he asked, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me." Mark 8:34, NLT. 

PS. here is a photo the the Barbershop (the men's Bible Study) at the foot of the cross yesterday.