Tongue Weight
 

            Although my Dad passed away many years ago, I can still recall those three magic words he would say that would make my day: “Let’s go fishing!”  

There were many funny stories I can recall and lessons learned on our fishing outings.  Dad had purchased a heavy boat that we towed to lakes all over Arizona.  The tow vehicle was the family Oldsmobile, which was less than ideal for the task.  Now part of my excitement was that although I was too young to drive on the street yet, Dad had given me the job of connecting the trailer to the car…so I got to drive the car about 50 feet in our driveway.  I can recall that the weight of the boat trailer was so great that the car’s springs would sag and almost groan beneath the weight as I lowered the trailer onto the car’s hitch.  Several times we got the car stuck while we tried to pull the trailer and boat up a steep unimproved boat ramp. Once the car’s transmission burnt out when we tried to pull the boat up a gravel ramp and on several occasions we overheated the engine.

The car mechanic that repaired our car told us that the car was not designed to handle this heavy load and it was too heavy for our car in a couple of ways.  First, the static weight on the front of the trailer, the tongue weight, was too great for our car, even when the car was standing still.  Second he explained that the overall weight of the boat/trailer combination was too great and to get the trailer moving and get it stopped was just too heavy a load for the passenger car’s engine, transmission and braking systems.  The choices were simple: We could buy a heavy duty truck or get a lighter boat.

Sometimes the static load of life can seem too heavy for us.  We wake up in the morning and before we even get out of bed, we feel a heavy load on our shoulders.  Other times, the weight of our burden seems bearable until we start our day and then the load and weight of our complex lives begins to bear down on us.  It is almost like we are asked daily to carry a heavy load that we were not designed to bear…just like our old car. 

It seems that Jesus understood about the static weight and dynamic weight of living when he encourages us to “Take his yoke upon” us and to learn from Him.  He has not come to add to the load on our shoulders but to make the load lighter because his yoke is easy and His burden is light.  And, of course, there is the burden of sin on our lives that only He can take away by His sacrificial death on the cross for us.

^{MT 11:28-30} "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Jesus is not a burden maker but the burden taker.  Oh what a Savior – Let’s remember all that He has done for us…   

Richard Lewis
Pathway Christian Church
Riverside, CA