Lifting and transporting heavy loads was... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

My iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

Blessed be the LORD, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!
Psalm 38:4; 68:19.

Lifting and transporting heavy loads was a tremendous challenge in ancient times. Just think of the pyramids in Egypt. From Roman times there exist illustrations of big cranes, e.g. a relief preserved in the Vatican Museum. It was part of the monument of a grave of the 2nd century A.D.. On the left is depicted an enormous crane driven by a treadmill. Such an illustration shows what skills existed and were applied in building in ancient times.

The crane reveals ingenious technology that made it possible to raise huge weights by means of block and tackle, couplings and numerous ropes.

Alongside physical weights there are burdens that weigh on our souls. They are even more diffcult to overcome. We cannot do it by ourselves. Nor will ingenious "technology" from the spheres of philosophy, psychology or religion help.

How good it is that we can come to Jesus Christ with the greatest burden of our life: our sins. Whoever confesses them frankly to Him experiences full forgiveness. He relieves us completely of this terrible burden. Why? Because Christ bore the burden of our sins on the cross of Calvary. God's children do not have to bear the everyday burdens alone. Day by day they experience that their God assists in bearing them, too.

At the cross! At the cross, where I first saw the light,
There the burden of my heart rolled away.

Today's reading: Joshua 9:17-27 · 1 Corinthians 8:1-8