I love those cute Russian matryoshka nesting dolls, don’t you? It’s such fun to keep opening each one to find the next little treasure.
Sometimes I think blessings are like those little dolls. Each precious blessing contains an equally precious burden.
We’ve often heard that with great fortune comes great responsibility and I’ve found this to be true with all forms of blessing. If you own a large house or fancy cars, you have the burden of maintaining and protecting them. Getting your dream job means you must work hard to keep it and prove yourself competent. Beyond material blessings is a life filled with good friends…worth more than the things you can amass… but those friendships, like all relationships, require work to stay healthy. And then, there is the even greater blessings of children and grandchildren, and any mother can attest to the added burden of care which accompanies these treasures.
But what about the greatest blessing of all? Surely God’s great gift of Salvation doesn’t contain a burden? I think it does. While on this side of Glory, our gift of salvation carries the burden of obedience. We are tasked with taking this blessing seriously and doing all we can to share the love of God with others.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)
Only in Heaven do we open the ultimate blessing to find not a burden, but only eternal Joy.
