Recovery Devotional 276 The Burden of Man

JMD Devotional 276 Genesis 4:1 The Burden of Man

AND ADAM knew Eve as his wife, and she became pregnant and bore Cain; and she said, I have gotten and gained a man with the help of the Lord.

How quickly a ‘gain’ can be transformed into a ‘burden’. Though the entire human population could fit comfortably in the state of Texas, the myth of “overpopulation” persists (have you ever wondered on a long road trip what could be done with all of that vacant real estate that exists a mile off the highway between cities?) We see each other as a burden. Thickheaded men refer to their spouse as their, “Ball-and-Chain”; while most wives are too polite to express how they truly feel about babysitting their husbands. In the human psyche, anything that draws upon one’s resources is considered a ‘burden’: children, parents, neighbors, employers, even God.

Numbers 11:14 (AMP) (Said Moses to God) I am not able to carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.

One problem is that we dwell on the complications rather than on the potential gains that another person can contribute. Reducing someone made in the image of God to a mere ‘burden’ is insulting to their Maker. Referring to God Himself as a ‘burden’ is blasphemy!

Jeremiah 23:33, 36 (AMP) And when these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, What is the burden of the Lord [the thing to be lifted up now]? then you shall say to them, What burden [indeed]! [You are the burden!] And I will disburden Myself of you and I will cast you off, says the Lord…But the burden of the Lord you must mention no more, for every man's burden is his own response and word [for as they mockingly call all prophecies burdens, whether good or bad, so will it prove to be to them; God will take them at their own word]; for you pervert the words [not of a lifeless idol, but] of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God!

The truth is, a man’s biggest burden is his own self and the sin he carries. Sin distorts the source of all good things into a ‘burden’, and turns meeting with God’s people into a ‘hassle’. Take a fresh look at your burdens and thank God for them!

Dear God,

How everything gets reversed in my mind! How could I turn gifts into grievances? Correct my thinking, and give me a proper perspective. Help me to love and to serve and to cherish You, Your Church, and the people You have placed in my life. Turn my interruptions into opportunities.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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