2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-5 – “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

THEME OF THE DAY: THE BURDENED CHRISTIAN LIFE.  The scripture commands us to cast our burdens and anxieties on the Lord.  This practice is essential to living a life of joy above difficult circumstances and through tough trials. We are exhorted to do so in the Psalms – “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22) and in the Apostle Peter’s first letter – “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Yet, in today’s scripture, the Apostle Paul doesn’t tell us to give our burdens to the Lord. He tells us we live with burdens. What would some of the burdens be in life that God gives us and will not remove from us?

First, the burden of battling against remaining sin.  Who has not groaned in this fight?  Even saddened over the sin that so easily trips us up?  Though sin will not have dominion over us, it still fights us (Romans 6:14). And this burden, though heavy, is good. It intensifies our desire for holiness by creating the hunger to be free from its hindering influence.

We also carry the burden for unsaved people, especially our family members.  The Apostle Paul knew this burden – “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:1-4). A burden for people to come to the Lord Jesus is healthy. When the Lord keeps us awake begging Him for souls to come to Him, we become spiritually sensitive that moves into the culture with the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus.

A final burden God gives us for our good and will not be removed is that of longing to be like Jesus.  We feel our sinfulness. We feel our lack of Christlikeness.  And this produces within us such an intense longing to be with Jesus; the same desire from the heart of the Apostle Paul – “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:23).

The Christian life is the burdened life.  Some we are to give to the Lord. Others He gives to us not to be removed. Learn to embrace them for the good they do in our walks with Him.

PRAYER:  Lord, help me to carry the burdens in life I need for my good and Your glory.

REFLECTION: There are burdens in life God’s gives us and that we should not seek to have removed.