Like APPLES OF GOLD in a setting of silver Is a word spoken at the proper time [Proverbs 25v11]
Last week we saw there is a Christian responsibility to carry one another’s burdens as instructed in the book of Galatians 6:1.
Today we consider the instruction in the same passage to carry our own load which might seem strange unless we understand that there is a major difference between burden and load. A burden is distress or grief over which we have no control and is common to all humanity to a greater or lesser extent. A load on the other hand is something we voluntarily decide to carry. The Greek word for “load” is phortion which was the word used to refer to a soldier’s backpack and every soldier will make sure it contains what will help him to win the fight for his king. In some parts of the world, the load Christians carry is horrific persecution, but in our secular, materialistic and hedonistic society our load is more subtle such as being mocked, ostracised and belittled for Biblical moral values. This load is especially hard for young people to carry as they want to be popular and accepted by their peers.
All of us must decide individually how heavy a load we are prepared to carry to glorify Jesus Christ our King and then carry it faithfully or else we bring dishonour to the name of Christ. To make this point Jesus used an illustration as recorded in Luke 14v28: “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him”. In conclusion, some loads are those of our own making when we are offensive, unkind and judgemental. Let us not be guilty of that error!
God Bless
Graeme Greenwood