The Burden That Rolled Away

In John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, a man named Christian has carried a terrible burden on his back from the moment he first became aware of it. It bows him down, exhausts him, and nothing he does can shake it loose. He stumbles through the Slough of Despond, gets misdirected by Mr. Worldly Wiseman, and nearly gives up entirely.

Then he reaches the cross.

Bunyan describes the moment with beautiful simplicity: the burden loosens from Christian's shoulders, tumbles down the hill, and falls into an open sepulchre, and he sees it no more. Christian stands there astonished and weeps with relief. Three Shining Ones appear. One declares his sins forgiven, another clothes him in fresh garments, and the third sets a mark on his forehead and places a sealed scroll in his hand.

What strikes me about this scene is that Christian did not wrestle the burden off. He did not untie it through willpower or clever technique. He simply came to the right place, the foot of the cross, and it fell away on its own.

That is the freedom the Gospel offers. Not a freedom we manufacture through effort or discipline, but a freedom that meets us when we come honestly before the Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). We do not produce it. We receive it.

If you have been carrying something God never asked you to keep, bring it to the cross. You may be surprised how quickly it rolls away.