November 4, 2022
Melissa Valerio
One day, my 7-year-old son, Ryan, was looking for his Spiderman toy. Figuring it was downstairs in the toy box, I told him to go look for it there. He asked me to come with him, since it was dark and scary downstairs. With my hands already busy doing the dishes I told him “Just hurry up and go down and get it, my hands are busy!” He replied, “I’m scared.” I said matter-of-factly “You don’t need to be scared; Jesus is with you.” He responded with “I know Jesus is with me, but I need someone with skin on!”
This almost made me cry. Oh, how I KNOW and UNDERSTAND his plea.
Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and therefore fulfill the law of Christ.” So, what this is telling me is that I can fulfill the law of Christ by helping and sharing in the burdens of others. And what is the law of Christ? It’s to “…love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second [greatest command] is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31) Wow, what a privilege, don’t you think? To be able to represent Jesus to others and fulfill the two greatest commands in all of creation simply in the way we help carry other people’s burdens. One of the greatest emotions that God ever created, in my opinion, is the emotion of relief. To have an unpleasant or uncomfortable situation come to an end. When I think about the Gospel, this is pretty much it in a nutshell. Jesus came to the Earth, lived a perfect life, died the death that should have been ours, and then came back to life to continue the work He began — the ongoing sanctification of you and me. The relief of sin and its effects in our mind, body, spirit, and soul.
Relief. That feeling you felt when you knew you should have gotten that speeding ticket, but you received a warning instead.
Relief. That feeling you felt when you landed that job you’ve been needing for so long.
Relief. That feeling you felt when a financial debt was finally paid off.
Relief. That feeling you felt when the doctor’s prognosis was in the positive instead of the negative.
Relief. That feeling you felt when your teenage child came home after curfew, but still alive.
We are all familiar with relief. You can think of more than a few times you’ve had a burden lifted from you and felt that glorious feeling of relief. And guess what? You can also give relief. Relief is an emotion you and I can generate in someone else. Jesus tells us to come to Him and find rest. (Matthew 11:28). Jesus is the relief for our souls that we so desperately need, and it is found only in His presence. But what do we do when someone can’t find the presence of Jesus, like Ryan? We bring Jesus to them. He has invited us to share in His work by bearing each other’s burdens. In this way, we can bring the presence of Jesus to the people. So how about it? Let’s be Jesus with skin on and go find someone who needs relief.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Lord Jesus, thank You for providing the greatest relief we need – relief from sin and death. You alone have carried our greatest burden. Help us to honor You for that gift by emulating that kind of relief in someone else’s life. Show us who You would like us to help today. In Your Holy name, Amen.
Action: Be sensitive to the Lord’s direction. Ask Him, and He will show you someone in your life that He wants you to help. Perhaps it’s a family member that needs help with babysitting. Perhaps it’s a friend that needs a ride somewhere. Maybe it’s a neighbor that needs their leaves raked, grass cut, or a meal brought to them. He’s working all around us, so let’s pay attention to where He’s leading us.