The Load

 

I can still see the image from my teaching days of Mary Ann Peters’ third graders coming down the hall with her. She always assigned the line leader the task of carrying her purse. This was a daily assignment for one of her boys or girls.

Now, Mary Ann didn’t travel “light” as they say. She always had a hefty bag, often with a long shoulder strap. I can still see a small boy, shifting the weight from one arm to the other, as he proudly led the class through the hallways.

I didn’t detect that her students complained about the discomfort of this job. Instead, they seemed to love doing this for Mary Ann. They enjoyed the trust she had in them, even though her bag contained her most necessary and personal items.

Galatians 6:2 tells us:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

The word “law” conveys a pretty strong principle that Christ desires for His people. A “law” in His Kingdom is a way of life, a manner in which He lived on earth, and a way He expects His subjects to live.

Another image fresh in my mind from the recent TV mini-series, The Bible is that of Simon from Cyrene carrying Jesus’ cross to Golgotha. This scene, in my opinion, was well portrayed. As Jesus struggled to carry the heavy wooden cross, this man was pulled from the crowd and given the task of helping.

What a comfort this stranger must have been to Jesus in His physical pain, His fear, and His humiliation. Even though Simon struggled clumsily, like the little boy with the teacher’s purse, he helped, and that was enough.

Are you ready today, if Christ asks you, to help carry someone’s burden? You may not feel up to the task, may not do it well, may struggle and feel awkward, but you may be a very real lifeline to someone in need of a traveling companion.

God bless you on the journey!