Heavy Hiking

"Will all this fit in my backpack?" Autumn wondered as she packed for an overnight camping trip with Uncle Joel and Aunt Carrie. Autumn stuffed her backpack full of clothes, games, books, and flashlights. "I can't forget my camera," she said, slipping it inside. After cramming a few bags of snacks on top, she closed the zipper.An hour later, Uncle Joel and Autumn were climbing the steep trail to the campsite. Aunt Carrie had dropped them off and was driving the rest of the way. She didn't like hiking. Autumn loved hiking! She enjoyed listening to the birds and feeling the warm summer breeze drift around her. But as the trail got steeper, she paid less attention to sights and sounds and began to wonder why she had stuffed her backpack so full. She walked slower and slower and soon fell behind Uncle Joel. The backpack got heavier with each step. Uncle Joel stopped. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "You're slowing down."Autumn sighed. "I'm getting really tired." Uncle Joel took Autumn's backpack off her shoulders. "Is that better?"Autumn drew a deep breath of relief. "Yes. It was getting so heavy!"Uncle Joel nodded. "That reminds me of a Bible verse. In the book of Matthew, Jesus says He will carry our burdens for us. He took our greatest burden of all by dying for our sins, and He can take burdens off your heart just like I took the backpack off your shoulders." Uncle Joel swung Autumn's backpack back and forth. "What do you have in this thing, anyway?"Autumn shrugged. "Oh...just some stuff."Uncle Joel grinned. "You probably didn't need all of it for an overnight camping trip. You know, we often carry around a lot of stuff in our spiritual lives too--stuff we don't need to carry, like worry about the future or guilt for sins we've already asked forgiveness for.""And it gets heavy, like my backpack?" Autumn asked."Right," Uncle Joel said. He lifted the backpack. "You were relieved when this weight was gone. How would you feel if the burdens of your heart were gone?"Autumn looked up. "A lot lighter," she said with a smile.–Katlyn Traxler