At the Start of the New Week…
Monday’s Verse:
From Galatians 6:5 ESV
“For each will have to bear his own load.”
At first reading, this verse can sound burdensome. We can hear it as an exhortation to go it alone, to shoulder everything ourselves. But a few verses back, Saint Paul tells us to “bear one another’s burdens.” That’s the important distinction.
A burden is something that weighs you down, crushes you under its weight. A load is different. It’s the pack strapped on a traveler, the duty laid on a servant. Galatians 6:5 isn’t about isolation. It’s about vocation.
God has given each of us a calling. We are responsible for the tasks he has entrusted to us, the words we speak, and the love we offer in our daily places of life. No one can live your faith for you. No one can repent for you or trust Christ on your behalf.
And yet, this responsibility is never ours apart from grace. The same Lord who calls us to faith also promises forgiveness when we stumble and strength when we are weak. We bear our load, yes, but we do so as people already carried by Christ.
As the week begins, you don’t have to shoulder what God hasn’t given you. Pick up today’s load. Trust Him with tomorrow.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, thank You for calling me into faith and for giving me work to do in this world. Help me to carry what You have given, to let go of what You have not, and to trust in Your grace when I fall short. Walk with me in the days ahead. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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