It’s The “Weight” That Keeps You Going

A man who inherited an antique grandfather clock with a brass pendulum watched as it pushed the big heavy weight back and forth. “What a burden for a 100-year-old clock to bear,” he thought. So one day he opened the glass case and unhooked the pendulum. “Why did you remove my weight?” the clock asked. The man replied, “It was heavy and I wanted to lighten your load.” The old clock exclaimed, “What you don’t understand is, it’s the weight that keeps me going!” Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and…I now live…by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” God allows us to experience frustrations and burdens in order to develop our patience and humility and make us more dependent on Him. Unlike us, He knows “it’s the weight that keeps us going.” That’s why: “The child he loves…he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating…training us…discipline isn’t much fun…It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later…it pays off…for the well-trained…find themselves mature in their relationship with God” (Hebrews 12:6-11 MSG). What “weight” is God using to produce the nature of Christ in you? Paul goes on to say, “Mortify…your members which are upon the earth” (Colossians 3:5). The word mortify comes from mortuary—a place where there’s nothing but dead, inactive bodies. In other words, instead of letting your earthly nature rule, ask the Holy Spirit to bring forth new life in you.