BURDENS ARE LIFTED AT CALVARY

A friend of mine lost her husband while she was very young.  When I visited her just after that, she shared this thought with me, and it has stayed with me fresh through many decades.  She was not crying after her husband's death, which made her worry if she had loved her husband enough to feel his loss intensely.  She asked the Lord what was happening to her.  Then suddenly, all her grief and loss came back to her with such force that she could not even get up for two days after that.  The Lord told her that He was carrying her grief and loss since she could not carry it herself.  It is wonderful to experience rest by having our burdens lifted at Calvary!

Many of us not only have burdens but have 'heavy' burdens.  It may be a broken relationship or a personal sickness.  It may be a loved one with serious health problems or a financial problem we do not see a way out.  Maybe it is an unsaved loved one we have been praying for many years.  Not only was our burden of sin lifted at Calvary, but also our other burdens and problems.  Jesus commands us to cast our cares upon Him, not because somehow our problems will 'magically' disappear but because He takes the burden and the worry and the care of those problems and carries them for us.  Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11:28-30).  'Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near' goes the Hymn written and set to music by John M. Moore.  Moore wrote this beautiful Hymn in 1952 after he led a sick seaman to the Lord. Moore was moved by the visible look of relief dawn on the face of the sailor after he committed his life to the Lord.  

Burdens are lifted at Calvary,

Jesus is very near.

Help me Lord to walk in this light;

For Your Grace Is all I need.

My friend, I pray today that you would let Jesus do the 'lifting' for you.  He carried mine.  It was pretty heavy for years.  Jesus went to the cross so that you and I can have that rest.  May you thus enjoy His 'rest' not only during this Lenten season but throughout our earthly life!

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