No, it's not the dryer you've overloaded, nor the computer your husband's overloaded; it's not the travel bag that's full to capacity, nor the tummy that's yielded to too much ice cream....it's YOU...YOU are on OVERLOAD!

Join the club! 21st Century living is like that--a constant demand of time, energy and loads too heavy to carry. Speaking of loads too heavy to carry, look back in time and classic literature and see him....the Pilgrim, as he progresses up the hill, slowly, with shoulders bent, with feet dragging, with soul distressed....yes, it's "Pilgrim's Progress" come to life.....only look a little closer for it's not Pilgrim of the past but the Pilgrim you see in the mirror each morning--Y O U--and you are on overload!

Overloaded with Yesterday's Failures!

The bag on your back is old and tattered; you've been carrying it a long time! It's filled with failures of the past--the times you've failed yourself, failed your friends, failed your family, and failed your God. You can't bear to think back, and you can't GO back, and you just fall back under the weight of the load.
No need to do that......Can't you see the Cross ahead? Keep trudging on, for THERE the Savior invites you to lay down YESTERDAY'S burdens at the foot of the Cross to find relief, forgiveness, assurance and grace. Give HIM the overload and be set free!

Overloaded with Today's Frustrations!

This bag on your back is stretched beyond capacity and ready to burst. It's full of kids' toys to be picked up, dinners to be made, laundry to be dried, houses to clean, office work to finish, taxi service to run, yards to mow, committee assignments to fulfil--and oh yes, there must be something we've forgotten--church, school, home, work all scream at us, HELP ME, JOIN ME, FEED ME, TAKE ME, BUY ME, CLEAN ME.....and you'd hide under the bed except that the backpack won't fit! The frustrations of daily living have you on overload--one more request from any person, place or thing and you will explode.....
Don't......Trudge a little further for the Cross is just ahead. THERE the Savior invites you to lay down TODAY's burdens at the foot of the Cross to find HIS peace, calmness, control and rest. Give HIM the overload and be set free!

Overloaded with Tomorrow's Fears!

This bag is so far ahead of the times that it's virtual.....virtual reality, with a peek into tomorrow's world as you think it MIGHT be. The fears are so real that they fill up the whole knapsack and overflow all around you. You exude fear itself and the overwhelming anxiety it brings along. Panic, pain, phobias of the future--all the "what ifs" beyond your grasp, some quite unidentifiable, others quite real. You look ahead and the overload of it all is about to kill you....
Stop it.....Trudge a few more steps to the Cross. THERE the Savior invites you to lay down TOMORROW'S burdens at the foot of the Cross to find HIS plans, HIS promises, HIS protection, HIS hope and HIS grace. Give HIM that overload and be set free!

Yesterday, today, tomorrow - three knapsacks of burdens we were not built to carry ourselves. They belong at the foot of the Cross, the place where pilgrims kneel and present themselves--AND their burdens--to the One who has already taken them on HIS shoulders. Our griefs, our losses, our questions, our crises, already borne by our Lord.....He has "borne our griefs and carried our sorrows" - for real - so get up, go on your way truly unburdened from the overload of yesterday, today and tomorrow! And now go find another pilgrim carrying a knapsack and lead HIM to the Cross...."burdens are lifted at Calvary" for us all--believe it and be set free!

Copyright 2004 by Peggie C. Bohanon, Springfield, Mo. Used by permission.
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