Two Burdens

Galatians 6:  ¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ²Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, ⁵for each one should carry his own load.

Yesterday, during our board meeting, Pastor Micky shared a devotion based on these verses which “coincidentally” is really so appropriate to the questions posed by Bee Lee.

Pastor Micky spoke of two kinds of burdens. The first burden is the burden of a brother who has fallen into sin. All of us are human, and even great men of God at some point or another had fallen into sin, sometimes, really terrible ones too. King David, the man after God’s own heart, fell in a moment of weakness, and the sin grew from adultery to deceit and finally to murder. King Solomon, the wisest man in all the earth, fell victim to the lust of the flesh, and let his countless foreign wives and concubines lead him astray to worship other gods. Even today, many great pastors and evangelists have fallen by the wayside. However, we must remember one thing, it is not how we start the race, or whether we stumble halfway, but whether we actually finish it. Yes, men of God have fallen, and so too have Bee Lee’s friends to a certain extent, but there is still hope. There is always hope, as long as God gives us breath in our nostrils, and there still is beating in our hearts. Manasseh, the most evil king Judah had known was forgiven by our merciful God when he repented and turned away from his sins. What is important is that our hearts are soft towards God, that we listen to the call of His Spirit, to repent and run back to God the Father like the prodigal son.

I commend Bee Lee for his concern for his friends, and I understand the discouragement fellow Christians face when someone we have looked up to has fallen. However, we must not give up on our fallen brothers or sisters, because we can be absolutely assured, that our Lord Jesus Christ has not. In verse 1, we see that if our brother is caught in a sin, we should restore him gently, softly encouraging him to come back to the faith. In verse 2, we are told to carry each other’s burdens, for this is what Jesus commanded us, that we love one another as He has loved us. However, Pastor Micky highlighted that when anyone does this, he must do so in humility and out of love. In verse 3, it is written that we must examine ourselves and ask whether we think we are something when we are not. We must take away all our pride, and be completely humble before pointing out a brother’s fault, doing so out of love, and a desire that the brother come back to grace. I believe, that Paul is referring to pride as the sin we must watch against when judging a brother.  

The second burden Pastor Micky spoke of is the burden that each person must carry for himself. This burden no one else can carry, it is his own responsibility. Wherever we are placed, God has placed us specially according to His good purposes. We have our own living ministry, our own world where we are able to touch people and do good in a way that no one else can. As a good Christian, it is our burden to carry, and we do so with a will to please God. The Lord said “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”. Enoch said at our YACG meeting on Friday that an ox came to mind when thinking of what obedience means. We learn to carry our yoke by seeking God’s will, and submitting to Christ everyday.

So finally, let us

-         Encourage brothers and sisters who have fallen in humility and love, with perseverance and prayer

-         Live the life that God has given us to the full, making our will obedient to Christ, and striving to live for him everyday.

God bless,

Jason