Baton Burdens
Psalms 145:14 The LORD helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads.
8 AM: I slid my new collapsible baton and its holder onto my brand new Sam Browne belt. I snapped the baton open a few times, and it made a metallic clacking noise as it extended. The noise is a very distinctive sound, and would give me the creeps if I weren’t the one holding the baton.
8:30 AM: Sergeant Lopez and Corporal Chavarrin, two correctional officers with the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, begin putting us through our paces.
9:00 AM: Sgt. Lopez is showing us how to snap the baton open. There are 17 ½ ways to open the baton. I think it was 17 ½. It may have actually been 6 with each hand, but I lost count. I was concentrating on not letting the baton fly out of my hand and impaling Cpl. Chavarrin.
9:30 AM: We are beginning the actual baton drills now. There are four zones, and Sgt. Lopez and Cpl. Chavarrin are showing us where the zones are. Easy enough. Now we have to start swinging the baton. The baton snaps out, and I go to work on Zone 1 with my right hand. Pop, pop, pop, the baton hits the pad that Cpl. Chavarrin is holding. My arms are still fresh, and it is easy to hit the bag.
9:50 AM: Now it is time for Zone 2, with my right hand. Again, the pad pops as I hit it over and over. This isn’t so bad…
10:32 AM: I am beginning to wonder what a heart attack feels like. Okay, it can’t be a heart attack, since it is only my arms that are hurting.
10:43 AM: I am trying to keep from crying like a big sissy-la-la. I have whacked my own elbow twice, and believe me, it hurts like you don’t wanna’ know. I slink to the back of the line, and try to put on a good front to the deputies standing around me. I think my sobbing tipped them off to the fact that I was hurt…
11:30 AM: We have finished the combat drills, and I am going to check and see if somebody has filled my baton with lead when I wasn’t looking.
1:25 PM: Okay, somebody is definitely messing with my baton! It started out weighing about 8 ounces, and now it must weigh ten pounds.
2:13 PM: Cpl. Chavarrin looks at me and asks me if I need help carrying my baton to the side of the gym. It now weighs somewhere in the vicinity of 7,000 pounds, and I am looking for a forklift to help me get it to my car.
Sin is just like that baton. It starts out light and gets progressively heavy on us. The longer we hold on to grudges, unforgiveness and other assorted sins, the heavier they become until the burden is unbearable.
God is a burden lifter! He will lift you up and relieve your burdens. Go to him now!
Today’s Readings: Ezekiel 38,39; Psalm 145, Revelation 20
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