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Burdens and Loads

          Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. (Galatians 6:2-5)

          I’m sure I’ve written about this before, and part of the discussion was the difference between a burden and a load, but it wasn’t this year. Looking up the term burden in a Bible resource, it claims this use of it refers to oppression. If we love others enough to stand with them and share their oppression, we’re fulfilling the law. The other use is as a prophetic vision. There’s another way that we use the word burden. It can refer to something we care deeply about. Some people have a burden for the lost. Some have a burden for the environment. Some have a burden to teach children. There are lots of those sorts of burdens.

Unfortunately, the same source doesn’t define load. That makes it hard to put the two ideas on the examination table. In general, my sense is that a load refers to one’s responsibilities, problems, etc. I’m a little more comfortable with that. Or, I think I’m comfortable, but I’m probably trying to carry other people’s loads and feeling guilty because I can’t.

          With this being a time of endings and beginnings for me, I’d like to have clarity – what others would probably call extreme clarity. No room for any ambiguity. Part of the problem is that I also want to be three to six steps ahead. Having not ended the end yet, I am frustrated with not having completed the beginning. So, today’s passage seems to be a good one for consideration. What are my burdens? What are yours? What are my loads? What are yours? Are they worthy of being called burdens or loads? It should be obvious that yours and mine may not be the same, because otherwise we can’t be called to bear someone else’s burden or to carry our own loads.

          Care to join me in the prayer challenge?

          Lord, please reveal my burdens to me. Help me see when I can help carry those of others. Use them to show me who You want me to be.

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