…Diligently listen to and obey Me, says the Lord, and bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy (set apart to the worship of God), to do no work on it… (Jeremiah 17:24 Amplified)

Four times in Jeremiah 17 God prohibits his people from carrying a load on the Sabbath. In Hebrew, the word “burden” can mean, “that to which the soul lifts itself up,” – a burden of the soul. We are invited to lay all our burdens down as though they don’t exist. Questions like, “How will we pay our bills next month?” or “How will I navigate this relationship?” evaporate on the Sabbath. In place of worry, we worship. In place of grief, we glorify God. In place of stress, we sing praises.

Should this be something I do one day a week? No! Worry does not please God. It is self-defeating. We are called to make relinquishing worry a part of our daily prayer routine, always giving him our burdens, and allowing Him to carry them. When we worry, we take the concern out of His hands – the only hands capable of fixing what is broken in our lives.

Father,

I refuse to carry this load any longer. It is breaking my back, weighing me down, and forcing me into defeat. Please take these burdens, for I trust you to carry them! I trust in you to fix them! I ask for wisdom to do my part and faith to trust you to do yours.

In Jesus’ Name Amen!