The old woman stood by the side of the road, almost bent double by the weight of load on her head. The man saw her and gave her a ride in his car. The old woman muttered her thanks as she settled at the back of the car.

The man looked through the car mirror and was shocked at what he saw.

The old woman still carried the heavy load on her head!

The man tried to convince her to PUT THE LOAD DOWN but the woman refused, saying he had already helped her by giving her a ride and she did not want to trouble him further by putting the load on the seat.

It sounds ridiculous but many people live this way.

I watched an instructive stage play titled INCARCERATED by the Reflexions Drama Unit of Daystar Christian Centre earlier today. It told the story of a notorious criminal who was jailed and sought ways to escape till the Holy Spirit, cast in the role of a janitor in the prison, gave him one sure way – believe in Jesus and you shall be free (John 8:36)

Pastor Kenny who gave the commentary at the end of the stage production made a profound statement.

He said: The PRISON DOOR IS OPEN. Why are you still INSIDE THE PRISON?

Can a man who has served his jail term continue to remain in captivity after he has been set free?

Not a normal situation.

The truth is that many times we act like the woman carrying the heavy load on her head. We have been relieved of our burdens but we carry them again.

We remain imprisoned by fears and other negative vices and do not reach out to the hand of help we are being given.

But the GOOD NEWS is that THE PRISON DOOR IS OPEN. Christ has set you free and you only need to DROP THAT HEAVY LOAD and WALK OUT FREE THROUGH THE PRISON DOOR!

What a great lesson for me. I hope you learn from it too