Cast Thy Burden

Psalm 55:22

KJV

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

The anxieties on the heart of a man have the complete ability to blockade him from the presence of God. I know this first-hand. What does it come from? Lack of trust in God surely, along with a combination of other things. Pride perhaps in trying to figure out a situation, only to find their heart burdened by the weight of what they weren't meant to bear. General slothfulness also will lead to an anxious heart. Things will get messy and then one can feel the pressure to then fix what he broke. I can identify with any number of the causes of a burdened heart. There's nothing that is worse than carrying that which I'm not built to carry. Imagine seeing a man on a bicycle trying yo trailer a gasoline tanker across the country. You’d think they're crazy and would try to help them recognize that a bicycle isn't the right vehicle for the job, but they would stubbornly not listen to you and insist that it's the only way to be done. Yet, don't we do the same thing? We try to carry a gas tanker on our own feeble strength. We carry that which we are not built to carry.

Each and every day I fail to cast all my burdens upon the Lord. My flesh and Satan want nothing more than to keep me loaded down, so they do all they can to keep me distracted and ignorant of what's on my back. I pick things back up so often which I had given into the hands of God. I don't fully trust Him in everything, even though He has shown Himself to be a faithful caretaker of my daily burdens. Yet, praise God for His abounding grace in my times of need and in the depths of sin. Every time I turn again to face God and present Him my burdens, He takes them and my soul is at peace knowing I'm in the care of the Good Shepherd.

The greatest burden of all however is not the daily difficulties and trivial trials. It is, or rather was, sin. Not only the sins I commit, but my sin nature as a descendant of Adam and Eve. It has been crucified with Christ and left in the grave. I still sin, but sin no longer has power to enslave me, since the power of the Blood of Christ has crushed the 0

power of sin and death. I no longer have to fight guilt, shame and condemnation upon my conscience without relief. The cleansing power of the Blood relieves that burden. The greatness of the Cross lifts it off my shoulders as it echoes the words of Jesus “it is finished”. It is finished indeed. Jesus asked us to cast our burdens and anxieties upon Him, for He cares for us. That He does, when we come to Him in faith. He removes from us all our unrighteousness, lifts off the yoke of bondage and slavery, and cleans our consciences from dead works to serve the Living God. He calls us, no, declares us free. Who the Son sets free is free indeed! The sweetness of that freedom cannot compare to any pleasure the world of sin has to offer. To be freed from the wretched master Sin, and brought under the loving care of Jesus is like nothing else. Certainly difficulties come, but we are not meant to bear them either! We are called to give them to God, and to endure them through His Holy Spirit. The suffering produces endurance, the endurance produces character, and the character produces hope which does not disappoint. I yearn to live the life God calls me to and has for me, a life of freedom. The only burden I must bear is light and easy, and that is the burden of His Holy Spirit, which I will gladly bear with all my heart, soul, strength and mind.