You! Release the burdens of the flesh...

^{Philippians 2:6}  

Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,

I love Vacation Bible School. I am forty years old and I think I have been to 39 Vacation Bible School programs. I recall at the close of one of our VBS weeks, I remember getting a card that I decorated and attached the card to the string that was attached to a helium filled balloon. After all of us had attached our balloons, we stepped outside and released the balloon that carried our card with it. We were giving our message away to someone that might receive it as the helium deflated.

I was thinking about that this week and it occurred to me that when YOU! and I release that which ties us down, our message is carried even further. What would have happened if I had never let released the string? The balloon would not have lifted up. The attitude of Jesus was: as a man he was tied to the flesh. So, he released it. He let the burden of trying to achieve righteousness by himself go and released it.

The NIV states that Jesus knew that being equal with God was not something that could be grasped…so he released it. Letting the burden of striving and driving for personal gain…personal success … self-gratification. The "me first" mind set is rampant in society and has led our society to the edge of collapse. We have perversion, AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, violence, abortion, political scandal, and family breakups. The list could go on but the fact is, it is rooted in "me first" or what I call the "I" syndrome.

The successful means to fight against the “I” syndrome is to release it. The world does not revolve around you. Life is not only about YOU!

When we release our false impression of entitlement, we are free from the pecking order. The statements, “I want it now!” “I don’t want to hear your excuses!” “I deserve it!” “I am right!” “I want it done my way!” “I will quit if you do that!” no longer apply. Our response becomes…”Help me understand why you feel that way?”.

Luke 14:25-27 records Jesus saying… "Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple'." Jesus is saying that the old pecking order is not of God…but that YOU! are to have an attitude of release.

 Letting it all go... you know I love ya, Don