CHRIST CARES FOR YOU

Lay the burdens down before your burdens take you down.

1 Peter 5:7, Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

            I preach a message, every once in a while, about burdens. I ask a burly, tough guy to come forward, taking a can of soda, and placing it on his out stretched hand. I tell him, “If you can hold it the entire time I’m preaching, it’s yours.” After a little while, that tough guy is struggling with the weight of that soda.

            Friend, no matter how small of a burden you carry around, it will take you down if you continue to try to carry it. You will stumble over it because it gets in the way of serving the Lord. The longer you hold it, the more it will hurt after you do lay it down. The best thing to do, is to trust Him, giving Christ the burdens because He cares for you.

DROP THEM!

Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

How many burdens are we attempting to carry around today? We've got our jobs, children, retirement, lost family, lost friends, house payments, and the list goes on and on. That's just the good burdens we have. What about those bad burdens of sin? What about the porn, the alcohol, the envy, the hate, the coveting, the jealousy, and the list goes on and on?

Psalm 55 tells us to cast thy burdens upon the Lord! Why would we want to continue to carry those burdens when we can walk around this life free? Having victory in our life! Having peace that passes all understanding!

            Got a lot of burdens stacking up so that you feel like you’re going to have a hard crash? Like your on the edge of a cliff and about to step off? STOP!!!!! Don't take another step! Look up and reach up so that the Lord can lift you up! As you drop those burdens, He will lift you up. He will take those burdens but you have to lay them at His feet. It's your choice. Either continue to bear your burdens by yourself or you can yoke up with the Lord Jesus and He will bear the load!

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

WHY ARE YOU CARRYING THAT LOAD OF BURDENS?

            It sure does feel good when we lay those burdens down!

Psalm 55:22, Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

            STOP! Read that verse one more time! No matter how many your burdens you have, you can continue to cast them all on the Lord! He will sustain or provide you with everything you need in and for life. And while life may blow us to and fro like a ship upon a boisterous sea, our Saviour will never cause us to be blown over in this life!

            What loads of care are you unnecessarily carrying? Why not give them up to the Lord this morning? Why not trust Him to handle those burdens? Cast your burdens upon the Lord friend; He cares for you!   

GIVE THEM UP!

            Burdens are best when shared.

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

            I recently had to get something and it weighed about 140lbs. It had a caution on the box, “Best if picked up by two people.” It made sense to me but I wasn’t going to let some box tell me what to do! Ouch! Pain and suffering from back injury could have been avoided if I would have just shared my burden with someone else!

            You know what Christian friend? A lot of pain and suffering can be avoided if you would just share those burdens with some good Christian friends! They will pray with you. They will pray for you! They will go boldly before the throne of Grace making their request known on your behalf! So give them up!

UNSHACKLED

Unnecessary burdens leads to unwanted blow ups!

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

            Carrying around unnecessary burdens causes us to have extra stress that our Saviour never intended us to have. When we keep these burdens bottled up, sooner or later we will be like a dead carcass on the side of the road baking in the summer heat; swollen, sour, stinking, and about to be splattered!

            The Lord has made it clear in His Word He wants us to cast our burdens upon Him and let Him deal with them. When we do, we come unshackled to them! We are relieved of those burdens! We become set free! Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7