APRIL 25
“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:30
When I spoke these words of Jesus to a woman under a
great burden, she burst into tears and said, “But my burden is
heavy.” It is easy enough to say to the suffering Christian, “Cast
your burden upon the Lord . . .” But even afterwards, he suffers
as much. How then is the burden light? Simply in this
way. It is easier to bear. Christ does not take away all our
burdens. When you become a Christian Jesus removes the burden
of sin and guilt, but He does not remove all difficulties, problems
and sorrows. There is still a living to be made. There
still may be sickness and physical pain, even dreadful diseases.
There still may be marital problems and a multitude of other
burdens. Often when a person becomes a Christian there is
added the burden of criticism and ridicule of loved ones who
remain outside the fellowship of Christ. But the burden, while
it may remain the same burden, is now borne for a different
purpose. It is now borne by one destined for the image of God,
and it becomes a part of the stuff God uses to accomplish that
very purpose. Before it was only a hindrance, an ugly hated
thing bowing one down to the grave. But in Christ it becomes
an exercise of godliness lifting one up to God. When a youngster
is forced by the parent to work in the yard, to mow the grass,
he receives the task as a burden and may gripe and complain
about the effort and work to be done. But when the same
youngster goes to the playing field for a game of football, he
may expend ten times the amount of energy required to mow
the lawn, and never think for a moment that it is a burden. So
when we bear our burdens in Christ they become lighter for they
are also His burdens, and we bear them as part of the Eternal
Purpose. It is trust in Him, hope in Him, the knowledge that
all is done for Him, in and through Him, that lightens burdens.
PRAYER: Thank You, Father, for making my burdens easier to bear, through
Jesus Who has taken all the burden of sin. Amen.
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