Burdens

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BURDENS

Luke 11:45-46

45 One of the experts in the law answered him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also." 46 Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

NIV

It was not uncommon for the experts in the law, to put additions to the law, which were not part of the law but were extremely burdensome to carry out. The problem that Jesus brought to them, was they did not feel it necessary to follow the rules and regulations they expected the common people to adhere to. We do not think times have changed much in that there have been many religious groups, or perhaps we should use the term, denomination, that have found it right to add to the gospel of Jesus. In other words, their gospel is Jesus plus, with the plus being burdensome to fulfill. Even within some of the holiness churches there have been additional rules for living a righteous life. Over the years, we have lived through the, no smoking, no drinking, no dancing, no movie theaters, no roller rinks, or bowling alleys, as well as women should not be seen in church with slacks, or too much markup. Even today, there are some sects, or religious groups that adhere to these so-called bible-based rules and regulations. The experts want to establish how others live according to the additional rules that they have established. How have we become so much like those experts in the law in the time of Jesus? Have we taken our interpretation of the law so far, that it has become a burden on people? It seems we spend more time on the rules and regulations we think apostles added to the gospels than on the actual gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the heaviest burdens is to focus on what James said about faith without works is dead. So, the burden of doing enough good deeds is placed on the people. How many “Good deeds” is enough to fulfill the requirement. That may be up to the experts in the law to determine. If we focus on the words of James, then we have taken the gospel and added to it. In other words, salvation is dependent on faith in Jesus Christ and doing good works. If we do not do good work then we are not saved, for our faith is a dead faith, it is meaningless. Is that what the truth of God really is? Is that putting a burden on the people of God, the people of faith, considering that Jesus said the work that God requires is to believe in the one he sent? Simply loving each other as Jesus loved us would mean we would want to help others when they are in need. But it should not become a burden, like the experts in the law put upon the people. If we are walking in the Spirit, His fruit will become evident within us, starting with love, which is never a burden. We need to be careful of burdens.