Following Jesus 129

Following Jesus: The Progress of the Pilgrim.

Have you ever been overwhelmed by your great and heavy burden? The Bible says the great and heavy burden is our own personal sin and our awareness and sense of guilt of that sin. Psalm 38. 

The world in its wisdom or knowledge (what it knows) seeks to find others to blame for man’s burden, or even deny there is a burden. Certainly, the world would never call man’s great and heavy burden the result of his sin. There must be someone or something else to blame. For example, the economy; the government; the police; school; teachers; students; parents; drugs or alcohol; video games; movies; music; war; crime; violence; etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and on. 

What then is the world’s solution to man’s great and heavy burden? A philosophy; physical or moral discipline; conforming to a religious teaching; enjoyment in whatever; education; being more assertive in what you want; shopping; running for political office; self-denial; being generous; seeing a psychiatrist; taking a pill; having a drink; going out for a run; playing a sport; etc.? 

Perhaps, as in the case of former Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner, the answer to his great and heavy burden is to become another person; Caitlyn Jenner. The world celebrated this decision by giving him/her at the ESPN/ESPY Awards Show July 15, 2015 the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. 

The world’s system says that if you have a great and heavy burden, you can fix it. You can fix yourself. You don’t need God! After all, He may not even exist. Therefore, stop feeling guilty, put a smile on your face. Don’t worry, be happy! Whatever gets you through the night is alright. 

It is clear that the world’s wisdom in solving the heavy weight people carry does not and cannot solve the deep source of man’s problem: sin. The Bible holds out the only solution to this problem of our great and heavy burden: the wisdom and knowledge of God through the word of the cross. 

What is wisdom? It is understanding, knowledge and insight into a particular situation or subject. Regarding the sinner and his great burden of sin, wisdom is the knowledge and insight from God that not only defines the cause of the great burden the sinner bears, but also offers the only relief, solution or salvation from such a great burden of guilt and shame. 

Biblically speaking, wisdom involves both the knowledge of truth and the right application of that knowledge. It is not enough to understand the truth, for a person must also know how to rightly apply the truth in a particular situation. 

What may we discover about God’s Wisdom from God’s Word in dealing with a person’s great and heavy burden of sin? To begin with, we must recognize there are two responses to God’s wisdom by two different people groups.

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