CALVARY - The Place Where Burdens are Lifted [Still!].
Psalm 145: 9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
Ever got to the point in your life where you feel as if lifeÂ’s burdens have become too much for you? Have you wondered at the worth of it all, the sense of carrying on? Has it ever seemed as if every direction you look all you can see are closed doors, blocked paths, rejection, and refusal? This is where David finds himself in this Psalm. However he does not get lost in despair. He does not throw his hands in the air and give up, neither does he seek a quick fix or a cop-out. No friends, David points to the Lord, the omnipotent God who he has come to know as the great burden bearer. I ask you today, do you know this God?
Ever got to the point in your life where you feel as if lifeÂ’s burdens have become too much for you? Have you wondered at the worth of it all, the sense of carrying on? Has it ever seemed as if every direction you look all you can see are closed doors, blocked paths, rejection, and refusal? This is where David finds himself in this Psalm. However he does not get lost in despair. He does not throw his hands in the air and give up, neither does he seek a quick fix or a cop-out. No friends, David points to the Lord, the omnipotent God who he has come to know as the great burden bearer. I ask you today, do you know this God?
The Psalm is worth the reading in its entirety as David takes us through eleven [11] reasons why we can trust God to lift us up when we are down, to encourage us when we are discouraged, to give us His eternal joy when we are sad. Verses 8 and 9 when combined, gives us one of these reasons. We can trust God because He is gracious, compassionate, patient and loving. Seems like a lot of reasons in one to me, but that is how God operates. He gives us no excuses and leaves nothing to chance. If He says He will look out for us then we can trust Him to do so.
As our gracious God He is so caring towards us that He is prepared to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Joel 2: 13 tells us Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. He patiently waits for us to return to Him when we have strayed, withholding the full brunt of His anger from us. As our compassionate God He is kind and considerate beyond our greatest imaginings. He has not treated us as we deserve, but allows His compassionate care for us to guide His dealings with us. His care and compassion go together. How can we have one without the other? What a mighty God we serve!
As a patient God, He is not moved by emotions as some of us are. He does not react quickly, but is ‘slow to anger and abounding in mercy’ [Jonah 4: 2]. No need to wonder why He is so patient with us. It is because of His love for us. Is this not what we have felt as we journeyed with Christ through Passion Week, and to Calvary, where He becomes the ultimate sacrifice for our sins? Suddenly John 3: 16 makes complete sense. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. It was on the cross that we saw the extent of God’s grace, compassion, patience and love. As the song says, when He was on the cross, you and I were on His mind.
I invite you today, not only to take your burdens to Calvary, but I invite you to kneel at the cross and experience not only burdens lifted, but a life changing experience as you surrender everything [all] to God through Christ.
Beneath the cross of Jesus, I long to take my stand;
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land,
A home within a wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noon-tide heat,
And the burdens of the day.
Elizabeth Clephane
Till next Tuesday, be blessed.
As our gracious God He is so caring towards us that He is prepared to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Joel 2: 13 tells us Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. He patiently waits for us to return to Him when we have strayed, withholding the full brunt of His anger from us. As our compassionate God He is kind and considerate beyond our greatest imaginings. He has not treated us as we deserve, but allows His compassionate care for us to guide His dealings with us. His care and compassion go together. How can we have one without the other? What a mighty God we serve!
As a patient God, He is not moved by emotions as some of us are. He does not react quickly, but is ‘slow to anger and abounding in mercy’ [Jonah 4: 2]. No need to wonder why He is so patient with us. It is because of His love for us. Is this not what we have felt as we journeyed with Christ through Passion Week, and to Calvary, where He becomes the ultimate sacrifice for our sins? Suddenly John 3: 16 makes complete sense. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. It was on the cross that we saw the extent of God’s grace, compassion, patience and love. As the song says, when He was on the cross, you and I were on His mind.
I invite you today, not only to take your burdens to Calvary, but I invite you to kneel at the cross and experience not only burdens lifted, but a life changing experience as you surrender everything [all] to God through Christ.
Beneath the cross of Jesus, I long to take my stand;
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land,
A home within a wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noon-tide heat,
And the burdens of the day.
Elizabeth Clephane
Till next Tuesday, be blessed.
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