Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
Who Carries Your Backpack?
Have you ever realized how many people you call "friends," yet how few you'd actually trust with your deepest secrets? That tension forms the heart of today's reflection on true friendship and burden-bearing.
This five-minute meditation might just change how you view your relationships. Take a moment today to call someone who's helped carry your burdens and express your gratitude. And join us again tomorrow as we continue helping you start your day right.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. I find myself almost every day of the week being surrounded by all kinds of people, whether it be at work or at church. There's people all around me all of the time, and although I have many people who I would call a friend, there are very few people that I would call a true, deep friend, someone who I would trust with my innermost secrets, my frustrations. Someone who I would trust with my innermost secrets, my frustrations, my fears, even my desires, and that I would tell the things I feel, god speaking to me deeply and intimately. I don't have a lot of those kinds of friendships. I guard that place in my heart. Whether I need to or not, that's another question I have to sort through. And yet the Bible does remind us that we are to have people in our lives that will help bear our burdens when we are going through difficult things. I came across this story by Sandy Snavely. She talked about her commute to work in Portland, oregon, and some of the things that she began to notice about the people around her that changed her. Listen to what she says.
Speaker 1:My morning commute consisted of crossing the Ross Island Bridge, one of the few bridges in Portland where the walkers are as welcome as drivers. There was a young man with bright red hair who I would pass almost every morning. His intelligent and handsome face also seemed determined and driven. I started praying for him, for his day and for his life. When he didn't meet me on the bridge, I found myself deeply concerned for him. Now he's never there. I wonder where he is now, how he is. Was he a student? Did he finish school? Did he become ill while foraging through the wicked winter weather? Or did he simply buy a car and join the morning commute on wheels? Then there's an older man who was occasionally seen with a large metal cross hoisted over one shoulder, with a sign on his back that reads Jesus saves sinners from hell. My stomach always churns when I see him. He's not as easy to pray for as my young red-headed friend. Maybe it's because I'm not as bold in my faith as he is. Maybe it's because, though, his cross gives the appearance of being large and heavy to carry. It's actually supported by a small cart and wheels.
Speaker 1:There's just something about that picture that makes me uncomfortable. But the portrait that has found the deepest place in my memory is that of a homeless man and his dog. The man was unshaven and disheveled. He wore an old camouflaged army jacket, trousers and military boots. He had long hair not yet turned in color by age. His backpack was heavily packed, pulling his shoulders forward.
Speaker 1:Although this scene was not unusual for the area, I guess it was the dog that brought love to the picture. He was a big, old and obviously loyal black Labrador. He carried a backpack as well. It had two canvas pouches that were well balanced on each side of his chest. The man and his dog poignantly displayed the heart of true friendship.
Speaker 1:How many times in my own life have I longed to have my bundles of burdens so affectionately carried? My young red-headed friend drew me to pray for him, for he was needy in spirit. The old man with the cross harshly illustrated the need for gentleness and authenticity when sharing my faith. But it was the homeless man and his dog who reminded me of the deep longing of every soul, the cry of every heart, to have one at your side, whose love is so unconditional and uncompromising, who refuses to cast blame or to judge the hows and whys of the burden, but instead comes alongside and shoulders the load. There's a profound privilege in being both the burdened and the burden bearer, to be needy and to be needed. As I continue my journeys through life, I know there will be many bridges yet to cross, whether forging ahead or just struggling with a friend to get to the other side. I will treasure in my heart the lessons from the three men and the bridge.
Speaker 1:We all need someone, someone close to us that we can trust, that will help us to carry our burdens. In Galatians, chapter 6 and verse 2, paul tells us to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. When we bear one another's burdens, we grow closer to each other. We become stronger Proverbs 17, 17. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity, and sometimes that brother is not a brother by natural blood. It's by the blood of Christ that's brought them into our lives.
Speaker 1:God does not desire, nor did he ever design, us, to face all of our problems by ourselves. He wants us to know that there are people that he has created that desire to be your friend, because they need you to be their friend has created the desire to be your friend because they need you to be their friend. We all need those brothers and sisters in Christ who are close friends to us that we can speak without fear our desires, our goals, our plans and the things that God is speaking into us. That's God's plan for us and that will help us to live with peace and a growing trust in what God is doing in our lives. I hope you have a great day, my friends. Give your close friend a call, just tell them how much you appreciate them. Have a great day, everybody. We'll talk again tomorrow. Thank you for joining us today and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday, right here at Starting Right with Danny Mac.
