{This is a continuation of my previous couple of posts}
So what is to be done with the burdens we all carry,
especially the burdens of sin Paul referred to in Galatians 6? As I thought
about all of this a couple weeks ago, a couple different thoughts and
connections flew through my mind.
One was a song I first remember hearing about a month ago at
church here. It hit me deep in my heart:
I’d trade these ashes in for beauty,
And wear forgiveness like a crown;
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy,
I lay every burden down:
At the foot of the cross.
The second (and closely related) was thinking about Pilgrim’s Progress – his heavy heavy
burden fell away off of his back as he worshipped at the cross.
It’s not like were expected to deal with our burdens on our
own! In fact, trying to do so will only end up in disappointment, because there
is no way that we can do this life—especially no way that we can lighten the
burden of our sin—on our own. The fact is that Jesus has already done that
work!
As Paul writes in another letter: “our old man was crucified
with Him, that the body of sin might be done
away with that we should no longer
be slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:6, emphasis mine). Christ came and lived and died and
rose again to take the burden away. The work is finished!!!
It’s like that old kid’s song I listened to as a child
(anyone else remember Donut Man? :D) “Cast your burden unto Jesus, for He cares
for you!”[1]
I’ve heard it a few times here in Uganda, so maybe that’s part of the reason it’s
on my mind J
The song mostly comes from 1 Peter 5:6, though it could also
partly come from Psalm 55:22. In 1 Peter 5, the verse (“casting all your care
upon Him, for He cares for you”) directly follows his admonition to submit to
one another and to “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Pet. 5:5 and 6). I heard a really good
message on this passage my junior year of college while resting in bed, and I’ve
always meant to go back and give it a listen when I have my full brain power…..
At any rate, another relevant passage to this topic is
Matthew 11:28-30, the oft quoted “come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest”—but don’t forget the next verses, the admonition to “Take
My yoke….for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Now, I don’t claim to
have much theological training or to be an expert on interpreting Scripture….but
take a look at the rest of Matthew 11 that proceeds these verses (and yes, I
know chapter divisions aren’t inspired either…).
The chapter starts with John the Baptist sending two of his
disciples from prison. It continues with Jesus rebuking cities that did not
repent of their sin even after seeing the signs of Christ. The verses mentioned
in the previous paragraph, examined in this context could be seen in a new
light.
The beginning of the chapter shows that wearing the yoke of
being Christ’s messenger—while much better than bearing the weight of sin—is not
all happy-go-lucky. John was in prison…John was beheaded, simply for declaring God’s truth about sin. And we can
wonder at God’s wonders all we want, but unless we repent….we’re worse off than Tyre and Sidon, worse off even than
Sodom. That’s a pretty damning view of things, and it comes straight from what
Jesus said!
I guess my point here is that God doesn’t take our burden of
sins off of our shoulders for our own sakes or so that we can have an easy
life. He saves us for a reason: For HIS GLORY, and so that we may SERVE HIM and
His people. So YES, we should celebrate the fact that we are no longer burdened
by sin! But obviously, we should not use that freedom as license to run off and
do our own thing in our own way.
I would say that my general tendency has been to swing too
far on the side of still carrying around guilt for my sin….although I know
there have certainly been times when I have swung to the “then I’ll do what I
want!” extreme. I’ll talk about the former in my next post, and tie in a song
that’s currently pretty popular. Any guesses as to what song? ;-)
[1] If
you missed out on this classic of my childhood, you can check it out on YouTube
here.
This is exactly the version I watched on VHS who knows how many times, down to
the cute little girls at 1:00 and 1:45 :D
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