Today I was reading Galatians 6:2 where the
Apostle Paul writes, “Carry
each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Yet
in verse 5, just 3 verses later he writes, “for each one should carry their own
load.” Is this a contradiction? Which is it? Do we share our burdens or do we
carry them alone? Yes! The word “burdens” in verse 2 is a Greek word, which
meant a crushing weight; similar to being trapped under the rubble after an
earthquake. In verse 5 the reference to carrying one’s “own load” is the Greek
word used for a soldier’s backpack. Galatians 6 then teaches there are burden’s
we are to share and there are burden’s we are to wear.
When we
carry other’s “burdens” we are carrying that which is crushing them. Sure some
burdens we see; like helping someone carry a fallen branch that they could not
carry on their own. But I have found that most crushing burdens people carry
are invisible. You might remember the Greek Mythology story of King Sisyphus.
It seems the king was an escape artist of sorts and kept escaping his banishment
to the underworld. Sisyphus’ punishment was to roll a giant boulder up a steep
hill. Every time he would get near the top the boulder would roll back down
again; he’d have to start all over. There
are people all around us who are trying to bear a crushing weight all alone.
The Bible says, “A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit
who can bear?” (Proverbs 18:14) There are burdens in life that are like that
rock Sisyphus was trying to roll up the hill. We keep trying and they keep
crushing us. Burdens such as the death of a loved one, the divorce of a
marriage, or the diagnosis of a disease all tend to crush us if we are not
careful.
And yet we resolve to carry our burden alone like this man in East
Asia pictured here. Somehow we as Christians have adopted the unbiblical idea
that we should be able to handle every crisis on our own, no matter how big; “I don’t want to be a burden to you.” I
preached a series recently entitled “Lies We Believe” where we looked at things
we have bought into as believers, but they are not true. An example of this is
the idea that God won’t put more on you than you can handle. God DOES allow us
to face more than we can handle, primarily so that we are driven to our knees, crying
out to Him and His people for help!
The
apostle also points out that some burdens are simply ours to bear; “Each one
should carry his own load” (backpack). If we were to take a backpacking trip we’d
likely each pack our own backpack. If half way up a mountain I became tired and
asked you to carry my pack for me, you’d probably say something to the effect
of, “I have my own pack to carry. Besides if yours is too heavy, it’s your
fault. You are the one who packed it.” There are things that no one carry; no
one can do for us; things like accept Christ, worship, pray, witness, serve,
give, etc. Today, if I were to ask you to take a minute and unpack and repack
your personal backpack of ‘stuff’ you are carrying, what would you put in it?
Would it be the same stuff that’s in there now? Is there a lot of junk in there
that you carry; junk that has accumulated with time? Do you need to get rid of
some of the junk so you can leave room for the most important things in life?
Yes
there are burdens we can share with others and there are burdens we must bear
alone. But there are also burdens so heavy and personal, the only thing we can
do with them is to cast them on the Lord. The Bible says, “Cast your burden on
the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be
moved.” (Psalm 55:22 NKJV) I will admit that foolishly I have often come to the
Lord willingly giving Him my life but demanding to carry my own burdens. I tend
to labor trying to carry my own burdens when the bible tells us to, “Cast all
your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
I
don’t know all of the burdens you carry and you don’t know all of mine. We both
have some burdens we need to share, and some we need to bear alone. But there
is one burden that every one of us has in common and it’s the heaviest burden
that we’ll ever carry; it’s called guilt! Guilt is a burden too heavy for you
to carry alone and too heavy for us to share. There’s only One who is able
carry that burden, and He has already carried it to the cross. Listen to Isaiah
53:4-6, “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows... He was pierced
for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that
brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed... The Lord has
laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” That
friend is the “Good” of Good Friday tomorrow. He Jesus took our sins; He was
crushed because of our iniquities, our punishment was placed upon Him, so that
by His stripes we might be spiritually healed!
