SERVICES: SATURDAY 6PM | SUNDAY 9AM & 10:45AM. 

We Livestream at www.FaithFellowshipWeb.com/livestream, through the FFC App, and YouTube.

Carry your Pack

Carry your Pack

Words of Faith 7-10-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

To unsubscribe follow the directions at the end of this devotion.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

 

Galatians 6

 [5] for each one should carry his own load.

 

      Now just wait a minute.  Didn't Paul just say that we should bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ?  Burdens are to be shared, right?  So what is going on here?

      Actually, there is no contradiction between verse 5 and verse 2.  The reason is that different words are used for what one is to bear. The word in verse 2 refers to carrying "heavy burdens.” We are absolutely and positively supposed to help one another with the significant burdens of life.  We are not to carry those burdens alone!  The Body of Christ is to help. These burdens are more than one man, or woman should ever carry.

      But the word Paul used in verse 5 is different.  It is a common term for a man's "pack."  We could translate this, and each one should carry his own pack.  Take up your own load on a day to day basis.  We would not go hiking and expect someone else to carry the basic pack that one brings on a journey.  So how do we apply that?

      In terms of the calling of God, each Christian has his own work to do. Paul declared in his letter to the Ephesians, “We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (2:10).  God has specific good works for you to do!  Your tasks are like none other. His plan for you is unique.  He has a particular plan of work that he designed for each believer and prepared in advance.  This is part of the pack we are called upon to carry.

      But also, in terms of the necessary provision for living, each should carry his own load if that is possible.  Paul wrote to the Thessalonians-- When we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10).  It is the design of God that we should provide for ourselves and our families if this is in any way possible.  Paul went on… We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.  Such people, we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. (3:11-12).

      In terms of work, Paul wrote to the Ephesians that God's plan is that each might be doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need (Ephesians 4:28).  Part of carrying our pack is to share with others and meet the needs of those who are less fortunate. We work so that we might share.

      Are you carrying your pack? 

 

     Father God, I know there are loads that I cannot carry.  I know that there are burdens I was never intended to carry alone.  But I also know that there are plans you have for me.  Show me my pack.  Show me the load that You have planned for me-- the works you have prepared for me.  Show me the ways that I can best provide for myself and my family.  Show me how I am to work so that I might share with others.  In Jesus' Name.

 

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an E-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an E-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org.  Or you can call the church office at 321-259-7200 x1.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -     

The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><