Advent - We Have Found The KingSample

Each year at Christmas I pause as I think about Mary’s burden. I remember my own and my daughter’s pregnancies as we neared “term” and how uncomfortable we were at times. We were not riding great distances on the back of a donkey with only a thin blank between our body and that of the animal. We did not travel for days. We did not ‘deliver’ in a stable and we had physicians and nurses nearby. What a difference for young Mary and what a commitment she made. What a sacrifice.

I think of the burden of the cross, of its pain and shame. Yet Jesus carried it without comment or request for relief.

I feel certain that you, like I, have felt burdened this year. Burdened by family illness or loss; by students’ failures or needs’ by hours of grading; by needs of family and friends. Jesus said: come to Me, give up your burdens…in Me you will find rest. The rest is a promise as we learn from Jesus, who is ‘meek and lowly in heart’. I think of rest for my soul, from my weariness.

I think of the many people who need Jesus to find this relief. I think of how I take it for granted and absent mindedly ask for His help on a casual basis, and I feel remorse and seek forgiveness.

Please know that God loves you. He thinks you are worth everything. He sent His son to pay the price for you and to take on your yoke…. your problems.

As you think of Jesus this Christmas, place your burdens at His feet and celebrate what His sacrifice provides…
For God so love….so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son…. for YOU and Me.

Dr. Sharon Souter, Dean, College of Nursing