No Tienes que Vivir Cansado | Crossroads en Español

Hola, bienvenido, mi nombre es Notiel, y hoy comenzamos una nueva serie llamada Buena Jugada, donde discutimos un plan para vivir con una carga más ligera. Porque seamos sinceros, la vida pesa. El trabajo, las cuentas, decisiones que tomar, problemas que resolver, gente que necesita algo o quiere algo de nosotros. Y a veces uno llega al final del día pensando, ¿y mañana otra vez? Muchas veces nuestra respuesta es simplemente, échale ganas, sigue adelante, tú puedes. Y sí, hay momentos para echarle ganas, pero también hay cargas que simplemente no fuimos hechos para llevar solos. Cuando miramos a Jesús, vemos algo diferente. Él también vivió presión, pérdidas, conflictos y momentos difíciles, pero había algo distinto en la manera que llevaba la vida. Había paz, había propósito, había una ligereza que muchas veces a nosotros nos falta. Y durante estas próximas semanas, vamos a aprender de Él y cómo vivir de esa manera. Hoy, nuestro pastor Kyle va a hablar y comenzar con algo acerca de Jesús que quizás te sorprenda. Jesús mismo dijo que Él es amable y humilde de corazón. Entonces la pregunta es, ¿qué tal si Jesús no es ese Dios duro y exigente que algunos imaginamos? ¿Qué tal si en lugar de decirte, haz más, esfuérzate más, arréglate primero, Jesús te está diciendo, ven, yo te voy a enseñar una mejor manera de vivir? Vengan a mí todos ustedes que están cansados y agobiados, yo les daré descanso. Carguen con mi yugo y aprendan de mí, pues yo soy apacible y humilde de corazón. Y encontrarán descanso para su alma, porque mi yugo es suave y mi carga es liviana. Usualmente nuestra estrategia es ganarles a ustedes en llegar a la playa. Nuestra minivan superará a la suya. Por eso nos vamos apenas terminan las clases, a finales de mayo o principios de junio. Pero este año nos fuimos a finales de julio o principios de agosto, y estoy aquí para decirles que eso fue una idea terrible. Porque cuando haces eso, regresas y de repente la temporada de regreso a clases te golpea. Te despiertas de una siesta y alguien te obliga a subir a una cinta de correr a diez. Dices, solo estaba descansando.

¿Qué estamos haciendo ahora? Es terrible. Ahora, nosotros los padres, sé que no todos somos padres. Está bien. Solo quiero mostrarles lo que sucede detrás de escena, en la mente de un padre durante la temporada escolar. Porque es un poco conflictiva. Verán, al final del año escolar, allá por mayo, no podemos esperar a que llegue el verano, porque estamos cansados de llevar a los niños a todas sus actividades. Prácticas de teatro, fútbol, peleas por la tarea y todo eso. Y por eso esperamos con ansias el descanso del verano, y cuando llega, es realmente increíble. Es una dicha que dura unos dos días completos. Y entonces recordamos algo que habíamos olvidado el verano pasado, y es que durante el verano, todos los niños están aquí mismo, justo aquí. Y nos piden cosas como, ¿qué hay para almorzar? ¿Y qué hay para cenar? ¿Y si tenemos bocadillos? Y ella me golpeó, y él me pateó, y Charlie me mordió el dedo. Y todas estas cosas son muy molestas. Por eso, el primero de junio, empezamos a soñar con el regreso a clases. Llega, los calendarios se llenan y nos sentimos abrumados. Literalmente llegamos de vacaciones a un calendario gigante de Amazon en nuestro porche delantero que empezamos a llenar. Y por nosotros, quiero decir, Sara lo llenó y yo me detuve, sudando. Es horrible. Tenemos tres hijos en campo a través, uno en fútbol, uno en béisbol, dos que van a hacer una obra de teatro escolar, uno en el programa de influencia de Crossroads, saludos. Uno de ellos está en un equipo de juicio simulado,

algo que no entiendo muy bien. Uno empezando la preparatoria, uno aprendiendo a conducir. Solo tengo tres hijos. Y a veces se siente como una locura, como si la vida fuera un juego loco, y ni siquiera estás seguro de si alguien que juega está realmente ganando. We would meet at the entrance, we would go down the windows. Sarah would say, I remember you, Kevin, right? That's how life feels. If you're a student, in high school or university, it's your return to class. You have a new job, and new schedules, and new programs, and new social pressures that add up to your plate. Even if you don't have kids, maybe your kids already left, maybe you're single, it's still the season when everyone returns to the office, it's time to get going. And you can feel overwhelmed and exhausted, which is exactly why we're doing this series right now. This series is called Well Played. Let's do this basic question. Is it possible to play the game of life in a different way, in a way that doesn't leave you exhausted, overwhelmed, and with a heavy load? Is that possible? I'm here to tell you that the answer is no. So let's pray for them to leave. God, thank you so much. It's a joke. Jesus' answer is actually a yes. And the good news is that this is something that is possible for all of us. You don't have to be an incredibly intelligent person,

or someone extremely disciplined. You don't have to organize yourself too much, and make Marie Kondo come and tidy up your socks. That's not the secret. This is available for all of us if... If... If we slow down to learn how to play Jesus' style. And that's what we're going to do in this series. For the next four weeks, we're going to slow down in a way that I don't know if we've done before in Crossroads. We're going to spend four weeks in a single piece of Scripture. Now it might be new to us, but in reality, it's not new in the history of the Church. It's an old practice called divine reading. The idea is that you reflect on the Scriptures continuously, over and over again. At the beginning of my marriage to Sarah, I learned something very important about chewing and sharing desserts with her. When I eat a dessert, I like to savor it. I'm a dessert eater with a small, delicate bite, with a little finger sticking out. You can judge me if you want. That's how I do it. Sarah is a crusher. How? How the dessert appears and you look up and down. It's gone. It's simply gone. There are only crumbs left. You say, what happened? If you share a dessert with Sarah,

it's best to cut it in half and eat your share. As fast as you can. If you chew slowly, you get less. With the Bible, it's the opposite. If you chew slowly, you actually get more. So we're going to go very slowly through this particular thing that Jesus said in Matthew 11. It's one of my favorite things. Perhaps what I like most about what Jesus said has been profoundly significant to me. Matthew 11, 28. Jesus says, come to me, all of you who are tired and overwhelmed. I will give you rest. Carry my yoke and learn from me. For I am merciful and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is soft, and my burden is light. It's my favorite verse because it's an amazing promise. I mean, whether you believe or not in Jesus, you have to admit that it would be something incredible. It's my favorite because the reference is my birthday. Matthew 11, 28. I was born on November 28. In a strange way, God has used it to bring me over and over again to this verse in periods of my life where I feel very burdened. I've been in one of those. It's been a verse that I've been meditating on

personally for weeks, chewing it slowly, going over it with God because my life has felt heavy. Heavy. I'll take you through what I've been processing. With God. This is my diary from a few weeks ago. I started to list the ways I feel heavy burdens. What burdens do I really feel? I was just trying to have this conversation with God. By the way, I don't write in a diary like, Dear diary, today, that's not what's here. The reason I write is because when I do, my mind focuses more than if I didn't. If I don't write, my brain tends to wander. Is this how I focus with God? I write my burdens. I said, Lord, I carry a heavy backpack. Carrying the weight of crossroads, the burden of the family future, the burden of child development, the burden of progress, and the health of my family. mi matrimonio. La carga del cuidado de Sara, de mi esposa. La carga del cuidado y desarrollo de Ben. Está en segundo año. Tres años más. Hasta que se vaya de casa. Tres años para prepararlo para la vida. Ellie. Un año después. Gracie, mi dulce Gracie. El tiempo se acaba. Debo ser un hombre que le enseñe lo que es tener un corazón para ella. El presupuesto de Crossroads. No lo saben, pero el verano es temporada de presupuestos. Trabajamos duro para maximizar el impacto del reino con cada centavo dado aquí. Nuestro año fiscal

comienza el primero de septiembre. Es un proceso de meses, de mucho trabajo duro, muchas decisiones difíciles que tomar en ese proceso. 10X. Amo 10X. Amo lo que Dios está haciendo. Mi familia personalmente sacrificándose por ello cada mes. Y sin embargo, también puede sentirse como una carga. ¿Cómo hacemos esto? ¿Cómo alcanzamos a más gente? ¿Cómo ayudamos a que el reino de Dios crezca? Esta, mi salud. Me pasa algo loco. Cada año envejezco más. No sé si les pasa. A mí sí. Y cuando envejezco, mi salud no mejora automáticamente. Parece que empeora. Y sé que hacer ejercicio es vital. Siempre ha sido un hábito fundamental para mí. Y aún así, mientras más envejezco, más cosas ocupan mi agenda y me cuesta más encontrar tiempo. Cuidar al personal de Crossroads, atender mi hogar, proveer para mi familia, estar presente para mis hijos. Esto es importante. Si no tienes adolescentes, quizás no sepan esto. Así que aviso, advertencia, todos los que tienen bebés, esto les espera. Tus hijos adolescentes querrán hablar de cosas importantes justo cuando ya no tienes energía. No sé cómo lo saben, pero lo saben y es cuando vienen a ti, 10 de la noche. Dices, ¿en serio quieres hablar? Oh, Dios mío, quiero ir a dormir. Soy viejo, no dormí, ¿sabes? Quiero estar ahí. Solo dije, padre, llevo cargas, son pesadas. No puedo seguir cargándolas. Necesito tu ayuda. Y sé que si te detuvieras y analizaras tus cargas, los detalles cambiarían, los nombres cambiarían, los roles que desempeñas cambiarían, pero el peso sería el mismo. Más o menos sería lo mismo. Mira, todos tendemos a vivir una vida excesivamente cargada y como dice Jesús, cargada. Y la realidad es que debemos empezar reconociendo que literalmente nos está matando. Podría tomar las próximas dos horas y darles todo tipo de estadísticas sobre encuestas de salud, sobre el impacto de la vida cargada que vivimos, el impacto del estrés en nosotros. No lo haré. Es probable que ya hayas oído algunas, pero quiero refrescar tu memoria y establecer el marco con una sola. Este es el resultado de un estudio de 20 años que realizó el Instituto Nacional de Salud. Dicen que los niveles de estrés en Estados Unidos han llegado a un máximo histórico. Más del 80% de los adultos encuestados reportan efectos emocionales debido al estrés prolongado. Décadas de investigación han relacionado la respuesta al estrés con múltiples indicadores de salud física y emocional, desde la depresión, ansiedad y trastornos del sueño hasta enfermedades cardiovasculares, una menor recuperación del cáncer, mayores índices de enfermedades crónicas y una muerte prematura.

Amigos, la forma en que estamos jugando no está funcionando. No. Literalmente nos está quitando años de vida. Y a nosotros, personas con una carga pesada, Jesús se acerca y dice, ¡Vengan a mí y yo les daré reposo! Quiero decirles hoy que eso es verdad. Eso puede pasarles. Una y otra vez, en épocas de estrés, al volver a la misma escritura, al calmarme, al masticarla, al aplicarla en la práctica, lo que encuentro es que todas las cosas siguen ahí. Todas las fechas límites siguen ahí. Todas las expectativas siguen ahí. Todas las cosas de los niños a las que tengo que llevarlos siguen ahí. Todos mis hijos siguen ahí. Y sin embargo, mi carga se siente mucho más ligera, sencilla y llena de gozo. Y te aseguro que puedes vivir exactamente lo mismo si te decides acercarte. Ahora, el punto de inicio. De cómo jugar el juego a la manera de Jesús, son las tres primeras palabras que oímos. En Mateo 11, 28, Jesús dice, ¡Vengan a mí! Y hoy se trata de que tengas la oportunidad de acercarte a Él. Esto es vital. Debes entenderlo. Si preguntas Jesús, ¿qué le dirías? ¿Cómo juego a tu manera? Porque esa vida sin cargas suena increíble. ¿Qué hago? Jesús no da una lista de principios, no dice, aquí están los siete consejos, aquí hay cinco principios para jugar. No se trata de principios, se trata de la proximidad con una persona, con Él. Y si no te acercas a Él, no podrás experimentar el descanso. Sé que muchos escuchamos eso y pensamos, genial, venir a Él. ¿Cómo hago eso? ¿Cómo se ve? Eso es lo que te ayudaremos a experimentar hoy, empezando ahora mismo. Hoy se sentirá un poco diferente. La banda saldrá a tocar una canción en un momento. No es una canción para cantar, es para preparar el ambiente para que tengas un momento con Dios. Lo que haremos ahora es, saca tu teléfono y abre tus notas. Y si no trajiste un teléfono hoy, felicidades, eres mucho mejor que el resto de nosotros. Saca un papel, róbale un bolígrafo a tu vecino porque querrás escribir. Y lo que te voy a invitar a hacer, es que hagas una lista de tus cargas. ¿Escuchaste algunas de las mías? ¿Cuáles son? Algunas probablemente las tenías presentes. Te despertaste pensando en ellas esta mañana. Pensaste en ello durante la alabanza.

En el momento en que oíste que esto era una charla sobre cargas, fuiste directo a eso. Otras están enterradas más profundo. En estos cuatro minutos, quiero que traigas a tu mente tantas como te sea posible. Te daré pistas y ayuda. Podrías comenzar haciendo una lista de todos los roles que tienes en la vida. Soy esposo. Soy padre. Soy empleado. Soy jefe. Soy hermano. Soy hijo. Soy amigo. Vecino. ¿Qué roles tienes en la vida? Y mientras haces la lista de esos roles, empieza a anotar cada estrés que tienes. Ligado a ellos. Mientras la canción continúa, puedes ir más profundo. Puedes pensar en las personas. En esos roles. Quizás nombres de amigos. Los nombres de familiares. Los nombres de personas en el trabajo. ¿Cuáles son los estreses que cargas? ¿Por ellos? ¿Sobre ellos? Quiero que traigas todo eso a tu mente. Ahora. Este es el inicio. De lo que significa venir a él. Hagámoslo juntos ahora. Cuando me siento lejos

Te cerras la ventana Nada puede venir entre nosotros No hay esconderse, no hay morir No podemos separarnos No hay vida aparte de ti En el mañana y en la noche Te recuerdas mi alma Más cerca que nunca Nunca lejos, porque sé No hay lugar para correr, no vas a estar No hay lugar para esconderse, no vas a encontrarme Incluso en mi peor momento, nunca voy a salir Y en todos los lugares que voy, estás a mi lado No hay lugar para correr, no vas a estar No hay lugar para esconderse, no vas a encontrarme Incluso en mi peor momento, nunca voy a salir Y en todos los lugares que voy, estás a mi lado Cuando me siento lejos Te cerras la ventana Esto es mi confianza No te arrepientes Tienes mi corazón Todo lo que soy, lo doy a ti En el mañana y en la noche Te recuerdas mi alma Más cerca que nunca Nunca lejos, porque sé No hay lugar para correr, no vas a estar I wanna be close to your heart wrapped in your arms to into your voice through all of the noise

your presence is where I know who I am never wanna leave your side knowing you changed my life I wanna be close to your heart wrapped in your arms into your voice through all of the noise your presence is where I know who I am I never wanna leave your side knowing you changed my life I wanna be close to your heart wrapped in your arms to into your voice through all of the noise your presence is where I know who I am I never wanna leave your side knowing you changed my life I wanna be close to your heart wrapped in your arms to into your voice through all of the noise your presence is where I know who I am I never wanna leave your side knowing you changed my life I wanna be changed my life I wanna be close to your heart wrapped in your arms to into your voice through all of the noise your presence is where I know who I am I never wanna leave your side knowing you changed my life I wanna be close to your heart wrapped in your arms quiero que lleves el peso de mi vida hay tantas cosas sobre mis hombros que no sé cómo cargar es muy pesado para mí me mostrarías cuál es mi trabajo y me ayudarías a confiar en ti con el tuyo amen bueno en 2007 justo en el momento en que entré a la fuerza laboral había un libro barriendo la nación cada oficina leía este libro fue increíble la premisa era increíble se titula la semana laboral de cuatro horas escapa del horario de 9 a 5 vive donde quieras y unete a los nuevos ricos apúntame suena maravilloso lo interesante es que diecinueve años después sabes de que nadie habla la semana laboral de cuatro horas sabes por qué ocurre esto porque simplemente no funciona para empezar quiero ser muy claro sobre lo que Jesús no está diciendo con estas palabras él no nos invita a una semana laboral de cuatro horas en realidad el trabajo en la biblia es algo bueno es parte de lo que tú y yo necesitamos

para vivir una vida llena de propósito y satisfacción si nos remontamos a las partes más antiguas de la biblia antes de que el mundo se quebrantara cuando todo era bueno dios diseñó el trabajo génesis 2 15 dice dios el señor tomó al hombre y lo puso en el jardín del edén para que lo cultivara y lo cuidara es parte del propósito original el problema no es el trabajo el problema It's how we work that makes us feel charged. Let's go back to the words of Jesus, Matthew 11, 28. Come to me, all of you who are tired and overwhelmed. The invitation here is for a people who work and have this life full of burdens. A charged life is like an insignia of merit. That's how we know we live well. Imagine that someone asks you and said, hey, how are you? And they said, great. My life feels pretty easy, pretty light. Would you think he's a loser? You'd say, what's wrong with you? You're lazy and don't work hard. You see, we think we're doing it right if we feel this stress, if we feel the weight of it. And the reason for that is because we have a weight of expectations on us that doesn't come from Jesus. The weight is the expectations. And the one who sets the weight of the expectations is the one you work for, the one who defines your victory. And what Jesus invites us to do in this scripture and in other places in the Bible is to work as if we were working for him. Colossians 3.23 says,

do what you do, work as hard as you can for the Lord. And this is the second adjustment to your game. Practically, you need to do it if you want to play the way of Jesus. It's letting him define your victory. Let's go back to Matthew 11.28. Come to me, all of you who are tired and overwhelmed. I will give you rest. If you take a break, what would you expect from someone who promises rest? I would expect something like, I will give you rest. So take my chair and sit on it. Right? That's not what it says. The following words are, load my yoke with my yoke. Yoke is one of my favorite jargon expressions from Generation Z. Saying that someone is yoked means that they are very muscular. The other day, I was at my best friend's house and her daughter, she is 15 years old, described me as muscular. And I said, wow, thank you. You think so? She said, was that it or soft? That sounded bad. I said, yes. I'm glad you didn't say it. It would have been cruel.

The way we use yoke to mean strength indicates its original meaning in this context. There are like two here, but both have the connotations of strength and work. One is, a yoke is a real wood object placed on the back of an animal, usually a ox, and it's used to help them carry weight, to pull a plow or load a cart. That's a legitimate use. And the other in this context, a yoke was the set of expectations, the definition of how a winner's life is seen by each rabbi. And each rabbi had their own yoke. Jesus comes as a rabbi and a totally different spiritual teacher. And he says something wild and radical about his yoke. Verse 30 says, my yoke is soft. Soft? How can a yoke be soft? How can a load be a relief? But that's what he says. Now soft is a little deceitful. You and I tend to associate soft with effortless. And that's not what it says here. It doesn't mean effortless. This word and its original definition

mean kind, well, pleasant, and well-adjusted. The opposite of a kind and well-adjusted yoke is one that is not. If you put a piece of real wood in an animal, a real yoke, you must make sure it fits well. If not, it will rub in a bad way, it will start as a minor irritation, and eventually it will open a wound in the skin, it will bleed and become infected, and it will make the work of the animal really very difficult. For many of us, that's how work feels. That's how our life feels, the work of our entire life. It feels difficult. It feels exhausting. It's because we're using the wrong yoke. We're letting someone, or someone else, or something else define our victory instead of Jesus. And if you let Jesus define your victory, he changes it. You and I tend to define victories as results. Seré una madre ganadora si mis hijos terminan entrando a tal universidad, ¿verdad? Seré un ganador en el trabajo si hago ciertas cosas, si logro este ascenso, esta cosa. Definimos el... But Jesus does not judge our work by results. He is more interested in attitudes. And if you can make this change, change everything.

Do not say, what does it mean that he is interested in attitudes? In the Bible, the word for result is fruit. Fruit is the result of the work of a plant. And if you said, well, what is the fruit that Jesus wants from us? He gives us a very clear answer, Galatians 5. Instead, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, humility, and self-dominance. There is no law that condemns these things. In other words, if these are the things that occur while you work, there is no other requirement. There is no other law that you are destined to fulfill. And again, we hear that and we think, man, no, but I must achieve results because at work they measure us by our achievements. But Jesus says in the book of Matthew, chapter 16, verse 26, what is the point of winning the whole world if you lose your life? If you work so hard that every result you always wanted, every retirement goal for your accounts, every title you wanted to get, every promotion, every university for your children, whatever your results, you achieved them all. You win the whole world. What is the point of winning the whole world if you lose your life? Or what can be given in exchange for life? What will man give for his soul? If we go back to our passage, Matthew 11, verse 28, did you notice why Jesus promises rest? It is not for the body. Verse 29 says, you will find rest for your soul. See, the miracle that Jesus offers us is not a resting body. He offers a miracle. He says, you can have a soul that rests in a moving body. It is incredible what he promises. Let's think about that. How would life be if you lived all your time, did things and fulfilled your responsibilities, but your soul was at rest all the time? That is the promise. He says he will give you that rest, but here is the condition. He will only give you rest when you give him the results. When you trust him with the weight of things out of your control that you should not carry. You have to give him the results and he will give you rest. You can't carry them. Five or six weeks ago, I met with Jim Bechtel, co-founder of Crossroads and a member of our group, who came to see how I was. In our conversation, he said something important. Kyle, you can't carry the weight of the Crossroads results on your back. That's not your responsibility. That's God's. I thought, what? Are you supposed to tell me things like everyone depends on me, that I work hard, that I review my schedule, and that I make sure I put in enough effort? He said, no, no. By the way, Jim has a doctorate in leadership. Jim's job is to be a mentor to executive directors. He said something else that was very interesting. You know, Kyle, most executives, even Christians, are stubborn. I said, well, okay. Why? He said, well, they carry the weight of the results, especially in things they can't control. They press too much, they get obsessed, they carry all the weight on their shoulders, and they reach the end of their lives and their careers. And they realize when it's too late that they carried the wrong weight. Look at their families. There were people who needed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, benevolence, kindness, fidelity, and self-control from them. And they didn't get it. And it's too late because that's being stubborn. Kyle, don't be stubborn. I think many of us live the life of a stubborn person, carrying the wrong weight, and at the same time, it's killing us. It's killing us. The third adjustment you have to make if you want to follow Jesus is to give Him the weight. Jim Collins wrote a leadership book, Better Than The Four-Hour Workweek, called Good to Great, highly recommended. And in this book, Jim and his research team set out to determine the difference between a company that is almost good and one that is truly great. And one of the things they found unexpectedly is what they came to describe. to live as a level 5 leader. A level 5 leader does not fit in what we think when we imagine a powerful, effective, and inspiring leader that will take us further than we could go alone. It's very different.

This is what he says about level 5 leaders. He says that although level 5 leaders can have very different personalities, they are usually modest, calm, reserved, and even shy. They show a convincing humility, without seeking prominence or drawing attention. In contrast, two-thirds of the companies used for comparison had leaders with huge egos that contributed to failure or to the continuous mediocrity of their companies. Level 5 leaders work with constancy and dedication. They are more like a workhorse than an exhibition. Collins discovered that leaders who are more useful in our lives, the most important and impactful leaders in the world, are people who show up in their offices. And although they are at the top, they sit at the bottom. Although they could ask everyone else to carry the weight, they decide that they will be the workhorse with the yoke on their back, pulling forward to help others, to serve everyone. Well, 2,000 years before Collins made this discovery, Jesus said, These are the leaders who are like him. And he said, This is the kind of leader he is. Listen to the verse we have seen. Matthew 11, 28. Come to me, all of you who are tired and overwhelmed. I will give you rest.

Carry my yoke and learn from me, for I am merciful and humble at heart. We did the series, I Am, months ago. We analyzed the seven statements, I Am, from the book of John. This is perhaps the statement, I am the most important of all scripture. I am merciful and humble at heart. Why? Because the heart does not refer to feelings or temporary emotions. Heart, the literal meaning of this word, is the nucleus that drives and motivates someone. It is what they really are. And when Jesus describes himself as a leader in our lives, Jesus describes his heart. By the way, this is the only place where Jesus reveals his heart. He says, I am merciful and humble at heart. Humble at heart means position in life. It is the word that Paul uses in Romans 12, 16. Do not get together with the arrogant, but with the humble. He is the lowest person on the social scale. He is someone to whom, if you went somewhere, you would ask him to carry all the bags. And Jesus says, That is me. That is my heart.

You see, this is the crazy gospel. We sang the song before that he is holy, exalted, and above all. And that is true. The one who has all the power and strength of the universe, the one with the right to be your Lord, came instead to serve you from below, to put himself under you to carry the weight of your life. He always said it in his ministry, and no one understood. He repeated it to his disciples many times. Even in the last supper he shared with them, he repeated the same thing to them. Matthew 20, 28. He said, The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. For the foundation of your relationship with God does not consist in how much you will serve Him. It begins with how much you will allow Him to serve you. Will you let Him carry your life? Will you give it to Him? Because He will not take it for Himself. You have to give it to Him. On the holidays, we did hiking. And by hiking, I mean a lot of hiking. We walked 112 miles during our holidays. And maybe that sounds terrible to you,

but it's okay. Don't get invited to the holidays. They were not for you. They were for me, okay? And we love to walk as a family. Now when we walked, this happened. He was far ahead of the rest of us. This little dot here is Eli in the distance. Once again, in front of everyone. And that's because Eli is our natural athlete. He is 14 years old. He played baseball in a club. Before the last season, I told him, Eli, your natural talent will run out one day. You must lift weights, practice at home, and make an effort. And he replied, Thank you. And he quickly ignored everything I said. And then, beating, he came to the star team. And then, you know, he has this attitude of, I am the ultra athlete. He bothered his brothers during the walk. He climbed steep stairs in the mountains, jumping, and said, Is it difficult for you? It's very easy, you know? And then, towards the end of our trip, we climbed this mountain lake, and it was a steep walk. 1,500 feet of unevenness, maybe more in a short time.

We were all exhausted and breathless. We were miles from civilization, far from everything, and Ellie began to have difficulties. Ellie, I don't know if she didn't have breakfast. I don't know if she was sick, but it's hard for her to walk. And I could see this confusion in her mind because Ellie, in Ellie's mind, is not the one who needs help. Ellie, in Ellie's mind, is the one who can carry the weight, the one who has everything under control, the one who can move forward, the one who can make an effort and achieve it on her own. And, but she kept tripping, she sat down to rest, she drank water from her backpack, she got up and tried again. She walked a hundred yards and sat down. Finally I said, hey Ellie, I want to carry your backpack. Why don't you pass me your backpack? And I could see how she fought her pride in her 14-year-old mind. I don't want to be the one who can't do it. I don't want to be the one who can't carry the weight. I could see it. I could see how she fought. So I approached her and said, hey friend, I would love to carry the weight for you. She said, okay dad. She took off her backpack and gave it to me. I put it on my back. I helped her and we walked the miles back together

at the beginning of the road. I tell you, you have a father who is much better than that. Someone like me who would love to carry the weight for Ellie, he would love to carry your weight. Much more, but you have to give it to him. He won't take it, you have to give it to him. I'll give you a moment to do that. Before we made the list of our loads, we brought them to mind. I want you to take out that list. That note on your phone or the paper where you wrote, I will guide you in a practical way on how to deliver them. And to do this, we're going to use our imagination. Your imagination is powerful. You can access things that are true that you can't see with your imagination. Jesus used his imagination. He told parables and made people visualize things to explain who he is. We'll do something similar now. Look at that list and just read it. Those are the weights you carry. Close your eyes. And imagine that you're on a road hiking and you're carrying a heavy backpack on your back. Feel how the straps pull down from your shoulders. Feel the pain in your back. The tension in your legs. The breathing that's so hard.

As you walk, you notice something. There's someone coming down the path with you. You turn around and it's Jesus. He says, hey, how about we sit down on one side of the path for a minute? Imagine sitting with him. You take off your backpack. You put it on the ground. And then Jesus comes back and says, hey, what... Open the top part. And he pulls out the first load. The one that worries you the most. Maybe it's the one you've been trying not to think about, but when you did the exercise before, it came back with all its strength. Or maybe you woke up today thinking about it even though you didn't want to. Maybe it's the one you've been trying not to think about, but when you did the exercise before, it came back with all its strength. Maybe it's the one you woke up today thinking about it even though you didn't want to. Jesus says, tell me, what is that load? What does it feel like to carry it? Say it now. Be attentive. Sweet eyes. Smiling, listening and feeling. At the end he says, hey, what if you give it to me?

¿Por qué no permites que yo lleve esa carga por ti? Extiende sus manos. Dale el peso. Ahora mismo en tu imaginación, ponla en sus manos. Es una locura. Parece feliz de tenerla. Sonríe y la mete en su bolso. Y se vuelve a ti. Dice, oye, ¿por qué no me entregas todo el bolso? Imagina que mueves ese paquete de frente a ti, hacia él. Todas tus cargas. La toma. Se la carga al hombro. Se para y te da la mano. Te ayuda a levantarte. Dice, ¿te sientes más ligero? ¿Ya no tienes peso en los hombros? Erguido. Quiero que estires tu espalda. Siente la sensación de no cargar con ese peso. Dice, ¿caminamos juntos? Te enseñaré tu labor y yo llevaré el peso de la carga. Padre, esto queremos. Queremos ser las personas que cargan el peso para el que nos diseñaste, no el que no diseñaste para nosotros, Dios. Nos enseñarías, ahora y en estas cuatro semanas, a ser un pueblo que entregue fácil y alegremente las cargas de nuestra vida. No dejes que las tomemos. Señor, cambia este juego.

En cuatro semanas, seremos ligeros y libres. De una forma nunca vista, confiamos en tu obra y te invitamos cerca. Gracias por ser un Dios que nos ama, nos sirve y lleva nuestra carga. Amén. Llegaste al final y gracias por pasar este tiempo con nosotros. Antes de irte, quiero invitarte a algo, porque seguir a Jesús es algo personal, pero nunca fue diseñado para hacerlo aislados. Necesitamos comunidad, y eso es precisamente lo que queremos crear en Crossroads en Español. Por ejemplo, tenemos grupos donde puedes conocer a otras personas, compartir la vida, hacer preguntas sobre la fe, crecer y encontrar una comunidad que camina contigo. Tenemos grupos donde se reúnen en casa, en un edificio de Crossroads, en línea, afuera en un parque, lo importante es encontrar un espacio donde puedes conectar con personas y crecer en tu relación con Jesús. Sé que llegar por primera vez a un grupo donde no conoces a nadie puede sentirse medio raro, pero muchas de las mejores amistades comienzan simplemente con decidir presentarte. Si quieres conocer más de los grupos que ofrecemos, o simplemente necesitas ayuda para saber cuál podría ser para ti, escríbenos a español arroba crossroads punto net. Nos encantaría conocerte y ayudarte a conectar. Gracias por estar con nosotros.

Nos vemos la próxima.