Carry Heavy Things - Beasts of Burden - The Character of Creatures

This is a chapter from the book The Character of Creatures: What the Animal Kingdom Teaches Us About God and His Word.

Carry Heavy Things – Beasts of Burden

Sometimes people ride camels across the desert, and sometimes they load all sorts of supplies and wares on them. Some animals are designed to bear burdens; the Bible references camels, oxen, donkeys, and mules (1 Chronicles 12:40). A load that would be really hard for a person to carry is easy for one of these animals to bear.

God uses these animals to remind us:

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ~ Galatians 6:2

and

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ~ Matthew 11:28

Discussion:

1.      Have you ever really needed help and someone came to help you? How did that make you feel? Isn’t it a wonderful thing when you really need help and someone comes to your aid?

2.     Our greatest burden we carry is the weight of our sin. When Jesus takes our burden, what does he do with it? Read 1 Peter 2:24. Have you given your sins to Jesus to take to the cross for you?

3.     How can you bear other people’s burdens? How can you be a help? What if their burden is too big to carry, can you at least carry a piece of it or add them to your prayers? Is any burden too big for Jesus to carry?

At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my sin rolled away. ~ Russell Kelso Carter, At The Cross