As I was picking blueberries one July morning, I watched the heavily laden branches of fruit spring up little by little as the plump, juicy berries were removed. ‘Ahhh!’ the bush seemed to say when its branches no longer hung down to the ground, putting stress on the woody stems.

Seeing how the shrubs bowed beneath their substantial loads of berries made me think of Jesus’ promise in today’s verse. Obviously blueberry bushes don’t suffer from the same type of burdens that humans do. But like blueberry bushes, we can become weak and non-productive as we are weighed down by burdens. When we try to cope with problems all by ourselves, our health and lives are affected by worry, fear, anger, sadness and other destructive emotions.

The burdens that weigh us down might be unmanageable workloads, financial worries, marital problems, family issues, illness, alcohol, drugs or even problems within our church family. Like the blueberry bush, we need help in shedding our load. When we are weary, we can trust in Jesus, who promises to give us rest. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for relieving us of our burdens. In Christ’s holy name we pray. Amen