Bear, Care, and Share

Galatians 6
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.   Galatians 6:2


LET IT GLOW

One time my son and I dug up a small area in the back yard and planted a little garden. We put three seeds of corn on a hill of dirt, as I had heard that was the proper way. We did this in several rows, since corn was our family's favorite vegetable. Sure enough, plants grew from the seeds planted. Then they matured and produced ears of corn on the stalks. We reaped more than what we planted-one seed yielded an abundance of  kernels. Paul says our life is like that. Read on, friend.

In verses 7-9, Paul states,"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Paul tells us whatever we sow with our life, we are going to reap. If we sow love, we will reap love. If we sow hatefulness, we will reap hatefulness. (Sometimes we get what we didn't sow because of someones else's harvest.) If we sow to the flesh, guess what, we will reap corruption. If we sow to the Spirit, guess what, we will reap life everlasting. In 2 Corinthians 9:6, he talks about how we sow-sparingly or bountifully.

Well, I need to patience to wait for the harvest. Sometimes it doesn't come immediately after we sow the seeds. Also, work is hard and painful. Just as a woman in labor endures the pain, she enjoys a sweet baby afterwards. So we may reap from our good works while living here or we may not reap from them until we get to heaven. Either case, hang on dear one. Don't faint. Don't quit doing good in this old world. Keep sowing love.

As verse 10 tells us, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." I should be looking for ways in which I can do good things to others.
Mom used to say, "What goes around, comes around." It was the same principle that God has established here on earth for us-sow and reap. I for one, need to watch what I'm sowing  in order that my harvest will be good and not bad.


LET IT GROW

Now, let's go back to verse 2, our key verse. I found some interesting information on this verse.

In his book, The Epistles, Galatians, J. Vernon McGee had this to say:

Eleven different words are translated by our one English word burden. This means thare are different kinds of burdens. Paul divides burdens into two classes: those we can share, and those we must bear and cannot share. In verse 2, you could translate it like this: "The burdens of each other, keep bearing." The Greek word for burden is baros, meaning "something heavy." Someone has said that a load is only half a load when two are carrying it.

Burden , baros, also means "fault."  "If a man is overtaken in a fault" That's his burden. You could help him bear it. We all have faults, and that's a burden. Many times we fall down, and many times we see a brother fall down. "Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one."

 It also means infirmity, a weakness, an ignorance, a pressure, a tension a grief. We can share tensions. Tranquilizers won't solve our problems. I don't know about you, but I live in "Tension Town." Many of us are under pressure and tension today. This is certainly a burden we need to bear with one another.
the third burden you and I can share is known as grief. The burden of tragedy, sorow, disappointment is inevitable in the human family. If it hasn't come to you, it will come. Job's three friends spent seven days sitting with Job and sorrowing with him. Grief is a burden you can share.

The word burden, in verse 5, is the Greek phortion, meaning "a load to be borne."It is used to speak of a child in the womb-only a mother could bear it. J.B. Phillips paraphrased it,"For every man must 'shoulder his own pack.'" There are certain burdens you will have to face alone. You will get sick, and no one can take your place. Suffering and mental anguish are things we cannot share. Another burden we cannot share with anyone is death. There will come a time when each of us will go down through the valley of the shadow of death, and we will go alone.

Another Greek word for burden is Bema, which is the judgment seat of Christ. Christians will appear before Christ, as in 2 Cor.5:10. Everything that we have done in the flesh as a Christian is to be judged to see whether or not we receive a reward. Salvation is not in question-that was settled for the believer at the cross of Christ. (Rom.14:12 says we will give an account of ourself to God.)

Last, is the burden of sin, which Paul speaks of in the first part of Romans and David speaks of in Ps. 38:4.
Sin is a burden you cannot share with anyone else. And sin is a burden you cannot bear, my friend. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said,"Come unto mee, all ye that lavour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He can lift the havey buraden of sin today, and it is because He paid the penalty for it. He alone can lift it; He alone can take it from you.

What do you do with your burdens? There are some burdens you can share, others that you must bear alone. Your personal sin is a burden too heavy for you; it is either on you or it is on Christ. And Christ does not share it-He bore it all.

So what keeps us from bearing one anothers burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ? Pride, which is when anyone thinks himself to be something, when he's nothing. Pride is self-focus. (David Guzik)


LET IT GO

Sow good things not bad.

Remember that I will reap what I have sown.

Care about others and help them bear their  burdens; lend a helping hand by lifting heavy loads.

Share my own burdens with others so they can help me bear them.

Take my burdens to Jesus, the ones I am bearing alone.