The Ringling Brothers Circus has its winter quarters in Florida.

Some people were invited to visit and came in through the performers’ entrance, passing by the elephant area. Someone noticed that the ropes around the elephant’s feet were not tied to anything. This oversight was reported to the handler who said, “Don’t worry, we never tie them up. We just tie a rope around their leg and drop it, and they think they are tied up.”

Do you ever imagine yourself tied up to something from which you cannot get away, when in truth the ropes are in your head and heart, and not on your hands and feet?

“When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.”

The crowd had missed the real sign of Jesus’ feeding the five thousand. They were all tied up in their thinking and they wanted to make him a king.

Jesus told them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one He sent.”

They don’t get it. Tied up in their minds and hearts, people are still searching for Jesus; are still trying to find Jesus. Not everyone, though.

If Jesus were to come to town, some would run in the opposite direction. This is because they live in a world of physical and material pleasure and Jesus would upset their comfortable lifestyle. They’re tied to that.

The unconverted Augustine said, “Lord, save me, but not yet.” He was tied to his sinful life.

Sadly, there are quite a few people who have no desire to find Jesus. Yet.

But there are many more people who need Jesus, who are searching for Jesus, who are not tied down, but may feel like it. There are people who are on the verge of losing hope. There are other people who seem to have no purpose in life, who need Jesus.

In a lecture on stress management the speaker raised a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?” After various answers, he said, “The weight doesn’t really matter. What matters is how long I try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, you might have to dial 911. In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

If you carry your burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, you won’t be able to carry on. You have to put it down. But where?
 

To all of those searching for Jesus, needing Jesus, Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life.”

When you come forward to receive Communion, the very body and blood of Christ, lay your burdens at the altar, at the foot of the cross.

If you truly want God to fill you with all good things, you need to make room for him by leaving something at the foot of the altar, something you are willing to let go of to create a space for the Lord in your life. This is about allowing God to make of you more than you were yesterday.

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”