Joe and Sam were talking one day.  Joe said, “My wife asked me to buy organic vegetables from the market garden.”

“So were you able to find some?” asked Sam.

“Well when I got to the market, I said to the gardener, ‘These vegetables are for my wife. Have they been sprayed with any poisonous chemicals?’  The gardener said, ‘No, you’ll have to do that yourself.’ ”

There are some things in life that you have to do for yourself.

Your parents can’t do them for you, nor can your spouse or your best friend. Only you.

Whenever people try to point out the “contradictions” in the Bible, they will frequently point to Galatians 6.  They say, “Paul contradicted himself within just a few short sentences.”  He said in verse 2, “Bear one another’s burdens” and then shortly after that, in verse 5, he said, “For each one shall bear his own load.”

“There, that proves that the Bible is contradictory!”  Nonsense!

Giving it just a small amount of thought will cause you to realize that while there are many areas where we need to help carry the load of our brothers and sisters in Christ (being there in times of sickness or sadness, for example), there are other areas where we cannot do that.

We can help carry the burden of difficulties this life has to offer, but we cannot carry the burden of responsibilities we each have.

In regard to salvation, for example, I can’t be saved for you.  I can teach you, I can encourage you, but I can’t do anything to save you.

That’s a load that you must bear.

In like manner, I can’t fulfill your responsibility to live morally, to visit those in need, or to give as you ought.  In areas of responsibility, you must carry your own load and I must carry mine.

“But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.  For each one shall bear his own load.” (Gal. 6:4-5)

As the gardener put it so well, “You’ll have to do that yourself!”

Have a great day!

Alan Smith