THE TRINITY OF HUMAN BURDENS
A. "CAST THY BURDEN UPON THE LORD"; "BEAR YE ONE ANOTHER'S
BURDENS"; "FOR EVERY MAN SHALL BEAR HIS OWN BURDEN"
- These three verses have one thing in common; they all deal with burden-
bearing:
- One type of burdens we must cast upon the Lord - I Pet. 5:8
- The other burden we are to share with our fellowmen - Gal. 5:13
- And finally there is a burden which we must bear ourselves - Jer. 32:19
- Thus we have the trinity of human burdens:
- One we are hidden to cast upon the Lord
- The other we are to share with our fellowmen
- And the third, we cannot shift either upon the Lord or share with men B. LET US TAKE A CLOSER AND MORE PRAYERFUL LOOK AT THE TRINITY OF HUMAN BURDENS
- Meaning of a burden:
- A human condition that weighs heavily upon a person
- An in-escapable responsibility which is a part of life
- Difficulties, problems and perplexities that are common to all men
- There is the burden of sin:
- Which weighs heavily upon the sinner - Examples: David testifies, "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long" - Ps. 32:3-4; Paul, when speaking of his life in sin cried, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" - Rom. 7:24
- God has made provisions to relieve us of this burden - by laying it upon the Lamb of God - I Pet. 2:24; Matt. 11:28-30
- "Casting all your cares upon him; for He careth for you" - I Pet. 5:7
- There is another type of burden which we are to share with each other:
- "Bear ye one another's burden, and so fulfill the law of Christ" - Gal. 6:2
- "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves" - Rom. 15:1
- This is the law of the brotherhood of men - I Pet. 2:17; Zech. 11:14
- The basis of the law of the brotherhood of men is the second great commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self" - Matt. 22:39
- And finally, there is a burden that is a part of our life and we must bear
that burden alone:
- Life brings to us a personal responsibility which may at times become very burdensome, but which is and remains ours for keeps - Examples: Adam and Eve had personal responsibilities to God which they could not shift upon anyone else Gen. 2:16-17; 3:7-22; Ananias and his wife, Saphira had their individual moral responsibilities and they had to answer for them - Acts 5:1-10
- When death comes to us it becomes the final burden which we must bear for ourselves; we must go it alone C. THE TRINITY OF BURDENS - WHAT A SUBJECT FOR PRAYERFUL CONTEMPLATION
- This present life is interwoven with burdens of all types:
- It may be the burden of bodily defects
- It may be a lingering sickness
- It may be material misfortunes
- It is comforting that our God knows and understands them all:
- He became the world burden bearer in the person of His dear Son - Is. 53:1- 12
- Said He, "In all their affliction He was afflicted" - Is. 63:9; Zech. 2:8
- When the love and compassion of God possess us:
- We will take the same attitude toward our brother
- We will share with him his joys and his sorrows
- But our personal responsibilities to God and men remain our burden - Gal. 6:5; Rom. 14:12