It is 26 degrees this morning. It’s dark, cold, the hummingbird feeder is frozen solid … and the wood-box is empty.
So, I pull on my coat and boots and trudge out through the snow to the woodshed. It’s snowing … again. I pause with a bit of fearful hesitation as I approach the woodshed … there’s no telling what animal might have taken shelter within during the night.
After shining my cellphone flashlight around for a bit and making considerable noise (to alert anything hiding in the far back recesses), I proceed to load up with a pile of firewood and make the difficult trudge through the deep snow to the back, where the wood-box is located.
It’s effort. My heart is pounding and I’m breathing heavy as I deposit the load of firewood in the wood-box.
This is what it looks like to bear one another’s burdens.
The fire in our woodburning fireplace heater is a lot like each person’s soul. And the firewood in the wood-box is a lot like the “fuel” which sustains each of us and keeps us going.
Life is hard! Life is nothing but storms of trials and difficulties! … just like the snow we have experienced this week. Due to the storms, people’s “wood-box” runs empty. The storm is taking too much!
When people are going through storms, trials, difficulties … they don’t have the strength to bear up under the burden. God knows this … so God has called us to help!
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2 (ESV)
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Many people think that living the Christian life means doing “spiritual” things … such as reading the Bible, praying, and going to church. Yes, this is true. But it also means getting your hands dirty. It means going out in the 26-degree cold, in the dark, in the snow … to get a load of “firewood” for someone else’s “wood-box” … because they are going through a trial and their soul is empty.
Super spiritual people might respond: Well, if their soul is empty that’s not my job to fill their soul. Only God can fill a person’s soul.
Yes, the Holy Spirit is like the firewood … the “fuel” which keeps the fire of the soul burning. But God has called us, commanded us to help! God has instructed us to help carry their burden … or in other words: to load up their wood-box with firewood.
And this means effort.
To help carry someone else’s burden means that it will be inconvenient … it will be freezing cold! … in the snow, in the dark. It will be inconvenient. Are you willing to be inconvenienced to help carry someone else’s burden?
To bear one another’s burdens means there will be some risk involved … such as the risk of whether or not an animal was sheltering in the woodshed in the dark early morning hours, when I needed to gather wood. Are you willing to take a risk to help bear someone’s heavy burden?
To help carry someone else’s burden means trudging through deep snow, the long way around to the back of the house. It means climbing steps buried deep in snow, to deposit the firewood in the wood-box. It takes effort!
Are you willing to put forth the effort? Are you willing to get out of your comfort zone and do hard things to help carry someone else’s burden? Are you willing to “go the long way” around if it requires it? Are you willing to “climb the steps” to bring “firewood” to the place where their “empty wood-box” is?
To be a Christian does not simply mean sitting in a comfy recliner chair, reading lots of Bible verse, and praying for needs.
To be a Christian means to get up out of that recliner and do something! It means stepping outside our comfort zone, getting our hands dirty, putting forth some effort, and actually doing something to care for others.
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” – James 2:14-16
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2
