Blessed be the Lord! Day after day he bears our burdens; God is our salvation. Psalms 68:19 CSB

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 CSB

Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 CSB

Have you ever been on a hike and carried everything you needed in a backpack? Or do you have a backpack for school and carry your books and homework? Then you have carried a “burden” or a load. Burden usually means a heavy load. 

When my kids were young, we went on lots of hikes, and everyone carried their own backpack with everything they needed for the day. If it was an all day hike the backpacks could get pretty heavy. Sometimes we would carry things for the kids if their backpack got too heavy for them. We lightened their loads by bearing the burden for them.

Sometimes our burdens aren’t physical things that you can carry in a backpack. Sometimes we can’t seem to stop worrying or thinking about bad things that might happen. And these kinds of burdens can also weigh us down and be hard to carry. Maybe your parents are getting divorced, or someone you know is sick, or you did something and you are worried about someone finding out. These things can be just as heavy on us, burdens.

But our verses for today tell us that we already know someone who will help us by carrying our burdens and lightening our load. Just like we used to carry some of our kids’ things as they got too heavy, God and Jesus offer to carry our burdens for us. We can pray to Jesus and leave our burdens, our worries, our troubles, and our hurts with Him! When we share our burdens with Jesus, He will “bear” or carry our burdens and give us peace.

This week, try giving your burdens to Jesus. Talk with your parents about your burdens, worries, fears, or problems and then take them all to Jesus. Ask Him to take your burdens so you won’t have to carry them anymore and you can have calmness and peace. Trust Jesus with all your worries and burdens. Let Jesus lighten your load!

Blessings and peace as you let Jesus carry your burdens!