“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”–Luke 10:38–40
In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom told the story of asking her father about something he didn’t think she was old enough to understand. She wrote: “He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor. ‘Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?’ he said. I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning. ‘It’s too heavy,’ I said. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.’”
Many times the burdens that we carry are self-imposed. We find ourselves weighed down, not because of the duties and obligations we have, but because we have taken on things we should not. A prime example of this kind of burden is worry. But whatever the source of our burdens, we are invited to lay them down at Jesus’ feet and stop carrying the weight. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:29). Do not allow yourself to be encumbered by burdens you were never meant to carry.(Daily in the Word)
