| The Every Day of Life |
Chapter 19 |
Page 4 |
The third Bible word about burden is, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” There are burdens we must carry ourselves. There are others, which our friends may help us to carry. Then there are those, which we can cast only upon God.
This promise discloses special preciousness when we study it closely. In the margin of our Common Version we find gift “ gift” as an alternative reading for “burden.” Then in the Revised Version the marginal reading is, “That he hath given thee.” “Cast that he hath given thee upon the Lord.”
“That he hath given thee.” It may be duty. Oftentimes the burden of duty is heavy. It is heavy with the fathers, who must provide for their families, and hold and fill their places in the world’s busy life. It is heavy with mothers, who have the home-care in their hand, with the training of their children. It is heavy with those that have large business interests in-trusted to them, which they must manage wisely and faithfully. It is heavy with the minister who watches for souls.
Duty is always enough to fill heart and hand, and sometimes it seems a greater burden than can be borne. But it is “that he has given thee,” and therefore it may be cast upon God. He will help us in it, and then, we know it comes only for one little day at a time.
“Charge not thyself with the weight of a year,
Child of the Master, faithful and dear– ,
Choose not the cross for the coming week;
For that is more than He bids thee seek.
Bend not thine arms for to-morrow’s load;
Thou may’st leave that to thy gracious God.
‘Daily,’ only, he saieth to thee,
‘Take up thy cross and follow me,’ “
Page 4