Burdened Down

Interestingly, in Galatians 6:2, we read, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ," which clearly says we are to share the weight of each other's burdens.  But then, in verse 5, Paul says, "carry your own load."  So, is it share in carrying burdens or is it each one carry his/her own?  Yes!

Yes, we are to carry our own load.  In fact, Paul will elsewhere say, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat" (2 Thess 3:10).  The one unwilling to pitch in and carry his/her own weight is to be allowed to go hungry long enough to provide sufficient motivation to pick up his/her own load.

However, there are times when our burden is too heavy to carry alone, when we become burdened down, crushed under the weight of what we must now bear.  James tells us that "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (1:27).  An accident, an illness, a financial collapse, or any number of crisis points in our lives can render us "burdened down" to the point we can't carry it alone.

Do you recall Jesus' words in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come unto me all who are heavy burdened and I will give you rest..."  In that passage, just after saying he would give us rest he says, "take my yoke upon you."  Really, how does that help?  His is a double yoke.  The heavy burdened was already in a yoke, pulling a burden too heavy for him/her alone.  Jesus doesn't offer to carry the burden for us, he invites us to get in a double yoke with him so he can help us pull our over-burden.

This is the synthesis of carry your own load and carry each other's loads: carry your own weight until it reaches a point when you are burdened beyond your capacity, then allow others to come along side of you to assist in that load until it is manageable again.  If you see another bending under the weight of their burden, extend your help if you are able.

Have you ever heard of "barn-raising"?  It used to be so that when a young man was starting out in farming or if a fellow farmer's barn burned down, the other farmers in that community would come together and help him build a barn.  The Amish still practice it.  The other day, I was privileged to help build a "Habitat For Humanity" house - a kind of barn-raising and certainly the practice of helping a family who has become burdened down in life.

So, readily carry your own load until your load brings you to your knees and then gratefully accept the help of others until you can get back on your feet.  And, then, be ready to help someone else who you see burdened down.  Jus' Say'n.

New Life from Old Bones

I suspect that most people throw their chicken bones away after they finished eating the chicken, but not my wife.  She puts them back in the same pot the chicken was cooked in, adds a little more water, tosses in some dry beans and some of the best bean soup you've ever tasted comes to life.

In my reading of Ezekiel, I came to chapter 37, where the prophet is shown a valley of dry bones - the bones of dead warriors scattered across a field, never to battle another day.  Well, at least it seemed that way: 'Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, 'Sovereign Lord, you alone know.'  Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life'"(37:3-5).  What appeared to be a useless pile of bones became a great army, ready for battle.

What may appear to be used up, dried out bones, may not have seen their last days, depending on whether or not they are subjected to the power required to bring life out of them.  For the chicken bone, it took the culinary skills of my wife.  For the dry warrior bones in the valley, it took the life-giving power of the Lord.

If you are not living up to your potential, getting into a little hot water might get you back on track.  But if you are dead spiritually, dried out and lifeless, it will take more.  It will take the power of the Living God to bring life back to your soul.  But life can be brought back.  If you know someone who seems to be spiritually dried out, the power of God can bring them back to life as well.

You may be depressed and lying in the dust of disappointment but you walk with God does not have to be over.  He can revive you.  The Lord Jesus can breathe new life into your spirit, new hope into your soul and a newly claimed future can rise out of the ashes.

If you have gone as far as you can go, carried as much as you can carry, now is the time to come to Jesus, who calls, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Mt 11:28-30).  Jus' Say'n.

Ah Ha Moment

I was speaking to a small group of men in a recovery house last night who are living on the streets, coming off drugs or coming out of prison.  A voice came out of the group of mean as I was speaking, it was an older man (by that I mean about my age) who simply said, "That was a good point!"

He had an "Ah ha" moment where he reached a bit of clarity in what had been a confusing maze of religious thought: "a successful journey to heaven is like following some one's tail lights."  Really?  Really!  Illustrating Jesus call to his disciples, "Come follow me" (Mt 4:19), I reminded them of the simple act of following someone home.  You don't have to know all the twists and turns, distance or even what the house looks like.  All you need to do is keep the tail lights in view and you will arrive wherever they wind up.

The "Ah ha" point was simply that we don't have to be experts in doctrine, theology or worship, what we have to be is followers of Christ - disciples.  Being well studied in biblical history, ancient languages, critical thought and so on, is very good but not necessary.  What is necessary is that we know who Jesus is, what he did, what he said and what his mission was.  As we come to know him through study of the Gospels, spending quiet time in prayerful reflection and seeing him live in fellow disciples, we are moving down the path he traveled.

Paul had a very clear understanding of this principle, which he shared with us in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ."  Paul knew the way home was to follow the one who knew the way, Jesus.  And he also knew that those who followed him as he followed the One would also find the way home.  That is why we need Christian fellowship, to give us living examples and practical support as we seek to follow Jesus.

This may not be an ah ha moment for you, but maybe it is or should be.  If you think that by belonging to a certain denomination, attending a certain church, following certain doctrines, completing certain rituals, performing certain tasks; you will insure your arrival in heaven, you need an ah ha moment.  And, here it comes:

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20)

This is it!  That one thing we really need to understand and come to grips with.  We need to follow Christ, making him our life so that we are with him in our death.  Ah ha!  Jus' Say'n.

Standing In The Gap

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one" (Ezek 22:30).  If you are a regular church-goer, you've probably heard this phrase before used to encourage us to pray for one another.  And, certainly prayer is an important part of standing in the gap.  But there is more.

Notice the analogy of the wall in the prophet's words.  Between the rocks or between the bricks, mortar is placed in the gaps to support, strengthen and hold them together.  The mortar fills in the gap in a wall as a weld would fill in a crack in one's armor.  We need to turn to God in prayer for protection against the attacks of the Enemy, but God also calls us to turn to each other.

The "more" is how God goes about answering our prayers for each other, He calls for us, like the mortar, to hold on to one another, to support one another, to fill in the gaps in each other's wall of defense or armor against the Evil One.  God does not call us to be lone wolves but flocks of sheep.  A sheep by itself is easy prey, but within the flock, led by the Shepherd, there is safety.

In the song, Lean On Me, by Bill Withers, the refrain speaks to this truth:

"Lean on me, when you're not strong,
I'lll be your friend, I'll help you carry on.
For, it won't be long,
Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on."

Family, church, community are all built on the God-ordained premise that we need to be involved in each other's lives.  We need to care enough to come along side of each other, standing shoulder to shoulder as we "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way...fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2).  Jus' Say'n.

Legacy

In ancient Israel, there was a proverb that said, "The father eats sour grapes and the son's teeth are set on edge."  In other words, the sins of the father were passed down to the next generation.  The notion of original sin is based on this idea.

However, the prophet Ezekiel proclaimed, “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.  For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child---both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die: (18:3-4).

The words of the prophet are clear in saying we are not guilty or responsible for the sins of our parents, that we do not inherit their legacy of wrong doing.  But that does not mean that the sins of the fathers and mothers do not visit their children, grandchildren and even beyond.  How so?

In a direct sense, a man who is a drunk is likely to mistreat his children, neglect them or scar them in any number of ways.  A woman who smokes heavily around the house and while taking her kids to school will not only destroy her own body, but will injure her children with second-hand smoke (I'm not suggesting that smoking is a deadly sin but it certainly has deadly consequences).  A chronic gambler may lose everything, bringing his children into unnecessary poverty.

In an indirect sense, the bad habits learned by a parent's children may be passed on to theirs.  In  the study of family systems, it is clearly seen where repeated manifestations of divorce or addiction or abuse are seen in multiple generations.

It becomes clear that what you do and how you live, does not necessarily end with you.  So, for those who say, "It's my life and I'll live it the way I want.  It's nobody else's business!"  Wrong!  If you  are a parent or ever will be a parent, it is not just your life - it is the life of your children and perhaps their children or beyond.

You are going to leave a legacy.  What's at question is whether is will be one that is life giving or death producing, healthy or diseased, productive or parasitic, faith affirming or faith affronting, uplifting or depressing.  What is the legacy you intend to leave to your children; what will you impart to the generations that follow you?  Jus' Ask'n.

The Standard

The story is told of two brothers, Bill and Bob, who were know to be liars, drunks, cheaters and thieves.  They were just the worst sort of people.  But one day,  Bill dies and his brother Bob goes to the local preacher asking him to officiate Bill's funeral.  The preacher reluctantly agrees.

Bob says, there is one thing: I want you to say my brother was a saint.  The preacher objected strongly saying, there is no way.  Your brother was one of the worst men I ever met!  Bob then said, "I'll pay you $10,000 to which the preacher replied, "Well, maybe there is a way.

At the funeral, the preacher says, "You all know that Bill was just the worst sort of person.  He was a liar, a drunk, a cheater and a thief.  But, compared to his brother, Bob, Bill was a saint."

If your standard is low enough, anyone can feel pretty good about his/her conduct.  Paul warns those who set the bar low instead of raising the standard, "When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise" (2 Cor 10:12).  In other words, when we look around for others like ourselves to judge our conduct, we are only fooling ourselves.

When someone says, "I'm just as good as those hypocrites who attend church every Sunday," you are probably right, but so what?  How does it benefit you to be equal to people who are failing to live up to their profession of faith?  That's like saying, "My dog doesn't have any more fleas than my neighbor's dog; and calling it good."  Really?

How about comparing your life to the faithful church attender who is striving to be godly in every way?  How do you come off then?  Better yet, how about using the Standard God raised for us to judge ourselves: Jesus Christ?  How are you looking now?

The apostle Paul didn't just say, "Imitate me," rather he challenges us to "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Cor 11:1).  That is the Standard, the life of Christ.  When you judge yours against his, you will see that, like the hypocrite, you fall short of his glory (Rom 3:23) and stand in need of his grace.  Churches are filled who are perfect, there aren't any (Rom 3:10).  Church is a gathering of those saved by grace, those approaching grace and some who are just posing.

The  point isn't whether you are as good as some who attend church, the point is, are you good enough to make it to heaven on your own.  The short answer is no.  We need a Savior and we need a company of saints to support and encourage us along the way.  Jus' Say'n.

Abandoned

In Ezekiel 16:4, the prophet uses a very graphic analogy of Israel's humble beginnings as an abandoned newborn: "On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths."  The picture is clear that she was cast off and left to die.  As King David would later lament, "Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life" (Ps 142:4).

You've felt that way at times, haven't you?  You've had those days when you felt abandoned, alone in a world where no one gets you and no one really seems to care.  Undoubtedly, you've even been at the point where you doubted your worth to God, when you wondered if he really had time for you.

But what so often happens when we get past that point, when we feel His love and acceptance, when we know that we aree desired of God?  What do we tend to do when we feel self-assured in our acceeeptance, when everything seems right in our word?  We often begin to take pride in ourselves, in our own abilities and accompishments - in our own worth.

At that point, confident and self-assured, rather than humbly seek out the Master's willl, we begin to think about our own.  We even say things like, "It's time for me."  "I need to think about myself."  "I need to focus on what I want."  At about that time, we begin to turn our backs on the one who loves us, who lifted us up.  We then abandon God  Ironic, is it not?

Turning back to Ezekiel, listen to this play out in Israel's life as the prophet continues his graphic analysis: "And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord. But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute" (16:14-15).

I know the imagery is graphic and unsavory, but doesn't it ring true for each of us as we go through the same motions as Israel?  Don't we go from feeling worthless to being rather prideful; from being dependant on God to not thinking we really need him - that we've got this?

But do we?  Did Israel?  The answer is no, we do not have things under control and soon they begin to control us again and we begin to fee overwhelmed and under appreciated.  We, once again, feel alone, abandoned and worthless.  We, once again, feel the need for God.

News flash!  We always need God.  There is never a time when we could make it without him - never a time when we are truly self-sufficient, worthy and able on our own: "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked" (Rev 3:17).  We think we've got it, right up to the point where we realize our worthlessness again and, once again feel abandoned.

The truth is, however, we are are never worthy and we are never abandoned.  We are saved by grace (Eph 2:8,9) and He will never abandon us (Jn 14:18).  We are the ones who abandon him and then feel the loss of his presence.  Jus' Say'n.