This volume by 19th-century Scottish pastor and theologian Horatius Bonar contains 62 brief meditations on living out of the good of the gospel.
SAMPLE — THE TRUE BURDEN-BEARER
"Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain thee."
—Ps. lv. 22.
We do not need to bear our own burdens any more than we need to bear our own sins. God has provided for the bearing of both. He takes them upon Himself. The work of burden-bearing is as completely His as is the work of sin-bearing. His love has removed all necessity for our attempting to bear either the one or the other.
Even if we could, then, why should we bear them? It is not wise; nay, it is foolish beyond measure; and it is as useless as it is foolish.
But more than this, it is sinful to try to be our own sin-bearers is to make void the work of Christ as such; so to try to be our own burden-bearers is to make void His work as such. We see the sin of trying to bear our own guilt, let us learn to see as clearly the sin of seeking to bear our own burdens. Let us understand the sin of not casting our burden on the Lord.
What is there about these burdens that we should be so unwilling to part with them? Or what is there about God that should make us unwilling to cast them on Him? His love, and power, and faithfulness, all invite us to do this. Not to do it is to suspect and distrust Him. He delights to bear the whole undivided weight; shall we not, then, give up every burden to Him who wants us to be "without carefulness," because He careth for us! What sweet and holy lightness of spirit would then be ours! The burden is not lessened in itself, but it is borne by the Mighty God!
SAMPLE — THE TRUE BURDEN-BEARER
"Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain thee."
—Ps. lv. 22.
We do not need to bear our own burdens any more than we need to bear our own sins. God has provided for the bearing of both. He takes them upon Himself. The work of burden-bearing is as completely His as is the work of sin-bearing. His love has removed all necessity for our attempting to bear either the one or the other.
Even if we could, then, why should we bear them? It is not wise; nay, it is foolish beyond measure; and it is as useless as it is foolish.
But more than this, it is sinful to try to be our own sin-bearers is to make void the work of Christ as such; so to try to be our own burden-bearers is to make void His work as such. We see the sin of trying to bear our own guilt, let us learn to see as clearly the sin of seeking to bear our own burdens. Let us understand the sin of not casting our burden on the Lord.
What is there about these burdens that we should be so unwilling to part with them? Or what is there about God that should make us unwilling to cast them on Him? His love, and power, and faithfulness, all invite us to do this. Not to do it is to suspect and distrust Him. He delights to bear the whole undivided weight; shall we not, then, give up every burden to Him who wants us to be "without carefulness," because He careth for us! What sweet and holy lightness of spirit would then be ours! The burden is not lessened in itself, but it is borne by the Mighty God!
