Psalm 68.19 declares, praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, Who daily bears our burdens. God bears our burdens.

Does that really make any sense? No other religion other than Christianity makes such a claim.

Surely allah doesn’t bear anyone’s burdens. Most gods place burdens on humanity forcing us to get better by their impossible demands.

Our idols have the same burdensome propensity. We beat ourselves because we are not strong enough, smart enough, rich enough or pretty enough so we keep working trying to pacify that voice in our head that is never satisfied.

When God lived among us as one of us, Jesus the Savior, He commented that we lived like we were heavily burdened. As God offered through the psalmist, so God offered in person, inviting us to let go of our burden and take His burden instead for His load was light and easy since He is humble and gentle in heart.

God Himself has born the burden of performing well enough so we can get to heaven. The issue of living a life pleasing to God has been resolved.

Most of our burdens have to do with finances, health or relationships. While the TV Christians often promise money, healing and wholeness God makes no such promise other than the promise to be with us in bankruptcy, death, and divorce.

Certainly none of those things are things He desires for us but neither are they things He promises to alleviate from us for this world has daily trouble as a result of our sin, other’s sin or the world’s sin. Nevertheless, He Who created and sustains the universe feeds daily the sparrow and knows intimately our truest needs.

The God Who so loved the world, truly loves each one of us and knows us each by name. The Lord of heaven and earth will welcome each of His children home praising each of His faithful children with the words, ‘well done.’

God invites us to daily communion with Himself so that we can daily unload our burdens in order to take on His yoke, the gentle and easy yoke, the ‘burden’ of freedom from performance to freedom to experience the love of God in Christ Jesus the Savior.