Ever struggle with something so difficult you become incredibly tired, as though a tremendous weight is dragging you down? Everything's so hard and the fight doesn't seem worth it. You want to give up. And sometimes you do. Responsibilities, obligations, even relationships can feel like that at times. But they're nothing compared to the burden of the wrongs we've committed in our lives.

Think about it. Every time you lied, stole, and cheated. Every time you put someone down, showed no respect, treated others badly. All the times you put your own interests, desires, and even grudges over the welfare of someone else. The times someone was hungry, thirsty, lonely, crying, sick, or without decent clothes or a place to stay, and you sat in a cozy house and watched TV.

The last US presidential election saw the candidates and their political action committees spend---you might want to sit down for this---$2.5 billion. Yes. Billion. Think of all who could have been fed, clothed, sheltered...the sick who could have been treated...the desperate who could have been cared for. In the end, the election of one man was more important than the welfare of millions.

Whatever we believe is important or hold as dear is found not in what we say but in what we do. What was I doing in all of this? What were you doing? What were we doing as the family of God to love and encourage, to reach out in compassion? What are we doing even now?

These are questions we all must ask, regardless of what corner of the world we call home. We don't need storms or earthquakes to get our attention. What are we doing to share God's love? A more telling question would be, When we turn away from those who need us, do we feel the heavy burden of the wrong we're committing? There's a place where such burdens are unloaded, and it comes with a promise.

Jesus once spoke to people in a city and used a reference they would understand---balance scales. In the markets, merchants weighed out their wares, balanced with weights that revealed the cost to the buyer. Jesus said he was like a scale with the outstretched arms of the beam holding a pan on either side, useful for weighing all the wrongs they had committed.

Regardless of the weight, their wrongs would never equal the love and mercy held on His side of the scale. His invoice for such service was light: Believe in me. In return, they would rest: Be refreshed with new life. In this account, the Greek word for invoice is usually translated as burden, and that which literally means balance beam is translated a bit differently, too---yoke.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  Matthew 11:28-30

We do not follow God as closely as He wants. We do not love or encourage as we should. These are our burdens. But God does not wish us to struggle under them. That is not the life to which He has called us.

Give your burdens to God. Receive His love and forgiveness. Learn from Him. He will change your life.