Adapted from My Peace-Filled Day by Rick Renner     

Adapted from My Peace-Filled Day by Rick Renner                  

In Luke 19:35 the Bible says, “And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus there on.” It is important to note this passage correctly conveys the words “cast,” “casting,” (the Greek word epiripto) which in secular literature often pictured the flinging of a garment, bag, or excess weight off the shoulders of a traveler and onto the back of some other beast, such as a donkey, camel, or horse. We are not designed to carry the burden of worry, fretting, and anxiety. This load is simply too much for the human body and the central nervous system to tolerate. We may be able to manage it for a while, but eventually the physical body and mind will begin to break under this type of perpetual pressure. In fact, the medical world has confirmed that the major source of sickness in the Western Hemisphere is stress and pressure. Man was simply not fashioned to carry pressures, stresses, anxieties, and worries; this is the reason his body breaks down when it undergoes these negative influences for too long. The only other place this Greek word epiripto is used in the New Testament is in First Peter 5:7: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” It is almost as if Jesus is calling out to you and saying, “Your shoulders are not big enough to carry the burdens you’re trying to bear by yourself. This load will eventually break you so please let ME be your beast of burden! Take that load and heave it with all your might. Fling it over onto MY back, and let ME carry it for you!” Because of the use of the Greek words in this verse, this verse carries the following idea: “Take that heavy burden, difficulty, or challenge you are carrying the one that has a risen due to circumstances that have created hardship and struggles in your life and fling those worries and anxieties over onto the back of the Lord! Let Him carry them for you! The Lord is extremely interested in every facet of your life and is genuinely concerned about your welfare.”