BEAR YE ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS — HOW?
By W. A. Spicer
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Gal. 6:2. The law of Christ is the life of Christ; it is His way of living. That law commits one to a life of burden-bearing because that is the manner of His life. Jesus is the Master Burden-bearer. Because the world could not bear its own burden, and because it needed help, Jesus came. He could not stop in heaven, apart from human need and human woe. By the very law of His life, He was constrained to go down to help the world in trouble. We are to fulfill the law of Christ. His law, His life, in us, will assuredly constrain us to go to the help of every need within our reach. It is a law of the divine life that it must work to build up and to help. The same Spirit of God that wrought in Christ and that works in all heaven, is the power that works in us, just in the measure that we permit. Christ’s burden is light, and His yoke easy. Yet how it pressed Him! Worn and weary, He took upon Him our griefs and carried our sorrows. He bore the crushing weight of sin upon the cross. Still, it was for the joy that was set before Him that He endured it. And in that joy of the Lord was His strength. He loved the world that He suffered for, and so His burden was light. Dr. McGregor, of Scotland, once met a little girl staggering under the load of a robust little lad, whom she carried in her arms along the rough roadway. “Isn’t that a heavy load for you, my little girl?” he said. “Oh, no, sir,” she replied; “you see, sir, he is my brother.” The brave Highland lassie had the secret that makes the burden light. She loved her little brother. The love for others that is to make all burden-bearing a joy is not manufactured within ourselves. It is the gift of God’s own love that comes as a result of personal experience. Rom. 5:4, 5. But by exercise the gift of helpfulness is increased. How shall we bear the burdens of others? Love must teach the way. The burden of sin is the heaviest of all. Know Christ as the One who bears your sins, and you can point the way of release for others. A discouraged heart is a burdened one. Speak the cheerful word that shows that somebody cares. The uplifting power of a kindly hand upon the shoulder is a marvel of spiritual science. The poor are to be relieved, the sick to be ministered to. Everywhere people are carrying burdens grievous to be borne because of ignorance of right ways of living. It is a desperate sin in these times for any Seventh-day Adventist to allow himself to remain in ignorance of the simple principles of healthful living, which are Heaven’s gift to this people in order that they may undo heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free. Job was a burden-bearer of ancient times. “When the ear heard me,” he said, “then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. . . . I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.” Job 29:11-16. This is so good a lesson on bearing burdens that God has preserved it for us in modern times. While the burdens of the world grow heavier year by year, calling for an army of burden-bearers, the Bible shows that selfishness will be a special characteristic of the last days. Men will be “lovers of their own selves.” The Lord must save us from this wickedness. He is to have a whole people whose lives will be a protest against selfishness, and who will manifest again the same spirit of helpfulness toward all men that Jesus showed. “If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Anybody who nurses a sour disposition and an evil temper cannot help adding to the burdens of the world. On the other hand, anybody who cultivates a cheery, kindly disposition will be lifting burdens on every hand. - What is the law of the divine life?
- Of what are we to be partakers?
- What made Christ’s burden light?
- Let the company discuss practical ways of lightening burdens in the church and community.