Hand Me Your VW...

All of us boys in the neighborhood knew that we could do it. It took a little effort but it was an obtainable feat, just a little muscle and up it would go. What? you may ask... The VW Bug of my best friends father. When he first got it, we talked about "someday". I was about 9 or 10. I remember going to baseball practice in the back seat of that Bug, it was so much fun leaning back and looking through the curved back glass. The "storage" space just behind the seat was noisy, after all the "power" was just beyond the back wall.

But as I grew up (a relative term for a teenager, who by all means of reason is not "grown up") the challenge began. "Grab bumper and pull!" With a little rocking up and down on the front bumper and up on the curb went the front tire. But one thing was certain, lift the rear and you'll need some help. Get a gang of us and we could pick it up and set the whole car on the front lawn.

Life can be like that. Sometimes we can just grab the bumper and up the tire goes, even with a little effort the results are within our grasp, then other times we need some assistance. This is what Paul wrote about in Galatians 6... "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load." (Galatians 6:2-5 NKJV)

The word "burden" in verse 5 has in mind a day pack, maybe like a back pack, something that you could carry on your own. It's clear that Paul says to be willing to carry your load in life and not pass it off to others. In Verse 2 "burden" is much different. This term brings to mind the idea of going down under the load.

Samuel Plimsoll understood this principle. In 1876, his introduction of a measuring system that would keep a boat from peril in the varied water conditions that it would tread. Thus the addition of what is known as the "Plimsoll Line" painted on the side of a ship. Each line stands for a particular type of water and weather condition. You see, if the boat sets too high in the water it will not be able to traverse the water without tipping. (listen to this part of the passage earlier... "For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself" or this one... Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12) If it's overloaded, then it will, obviously, sink! (think about this, what greater weight than living without hope... Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 ) What is interesting is that a boat needs a load to keep from capsizing, but it how much of a load it can stand is measured by the "Plimsoll Line." It's like that with us, no responsibility or load in our life and we're really no good, you see we were created for work.

Now, next time you are near a harbor your will see lines much like the ones in the picture below (minus the red explanations) and then you can impress your friends with all this historical and nautical trivia.

So you may ask, what does that have to do with me... Some times you are traveling in calm waters and then a storm brews and the load you have seems to be taking you under, don't be afraid to ask for help. Other times, while your craft is sailing smoothly, others may be signaling "Mayday". Be ready to help them get their "boat" back to the correct level. Then they can traverse the circumstances God has allowed in their life without losing heart.

So, know someone with a burden, grab a bumper! Got a burden, find someone willing to say... "Hand Me Your VW!"

Rambling from the back seat, looking through the curved glass...