In the previous couple of verses, Paul spoke of the importance of helping other people to carry their heavy burdens. Now, he reminds them that they have got their own burden to bear. The word he uses is also used of a soldier’s pack. We all have a certain amount that we have to carry by ourselves. We have specific responsibilities to bear, and we just need to get on with it and do the very best that we can.

When our lives come to an end, the Lord will not ask us whether we lived like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Martin Luther or Mother Theresa. He will ask us whether we lived the lives that he called [itals]us[end itals] to live. Perhaps you have the awesome responsibility of being a shop worker, a cleaner, a teacher, an accountant, an MP or a carer. Whatever it is, God wants us to be the best that we can be. Comparing ourselves to other people totally misses the point because the Lord is not calling us to be anybody other than the person we are.

Spending energy comparing ourselves with others or feeling we’ve failed because we are not more like someone else is a complete waste of time. Each of us has our own pack to carry. Imperfect as it inevitably is, we need to get on and make the most of what God has put in our hands. That’s exactly what the apostle Paul did. He was faced with a continual barrage of criticism, and sometimes violent opposition. He had to live with his thorn in the flesh, which was a continual burden for him, but he knew he had a job to do and he got on with it. May God bless us today as we seek to do just the same.

What is the work that God has called you to do?

Lord God, thank you that you are with me every moment of every day. Help me to always give my best to you. Amen