A mule is used as a beast of burden when it is loaded down with goods or merchandise, as is mentioned in Genesis 44:1: “And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, ‘Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.’”
The phrase, “as much as they can carry,” refers to their donkeys (see verse 3). There are limits to what an animal can carry.
The more you add on, the more the animal has to work to keep going and the heavy load slows them down. There is an expression: “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” which means you can load a camel to the point where just adding the weight of a straw pushes the weight beyond the critical point and the camel’s back is broken.
At the other end of the scale, the more weight you reduce, the faster the animal can move, and it can climb up trails and paths more easily.
Sin has a similar effect on us if we do not deal with it. It becomes a burden on us, slowing us down in our spiritual growth and in our driving distance between us and God.
Satan, the first being to sin, did not make the effort to change, repent and realize he was doing wrong. Now he is in the position where he will not repent, being hardened by sin, so that he cannot repent. He is corrupted beyond repair, having committed the unpardonable sin. We have to be careful not to fall into such a state by adding on to sin, by failing to repent and by asking God daily to wash us in the blood of Christ for our sins and have our plate cleansed daily; lest we pile on the sins to the point where it breaks our backs spiritually speaking and hardens us to the point we don’t want to repent and thus commit the unpardonable sin from which there is no return.
Christ used prayer to maintain a close relationship with God and His prayers were heard and He was totally submissive to God His Father. As a result, He never sinned even though He was tempted in all things, as Hebrews 4:15 tells us: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
He set the example for us by maintaining a close relationship with God. As we do sin, we must also confess them, repent of them and leave them behind.
As we move forward in the coming year, let’s ensure we do not add the burden of sin in our lives which creates walls and distances us from God.
We will undoubtedly face trials and tests but we have to keep our eyes on the reward and not get bogged down with sin, always seeking to have our sins forgiven when we confess them before God and have them, upon repentance, cleansed by the blood of Christ.
It is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, so let us show our appreciation by removing the burden of sin from our lives.
