I found this description of the gods of the time by Isaiah.

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden.
The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary.
They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity. Isaiah 46:1-2 (NIV)

I find it interesting that these gods are described as burdensome. They actually put a pressure on their people, a pressure that they can not themselves lift. The weary are the ones who suffer most, and to top it off the gods themselves get carried off into captivity. This seems like a poor description of someone or something that you would give your life too.

It is so much different with the living God. The next verses describe what He does for His followers.

“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46 (NIV)

The first batch of verses could easily describe our modern day ‘god’s’ it teaches us that anything man made or religious ultimately becomes a burden to us. They create a weight we cannot sustain and a load that they cannot lift.

Instead, the living God upholds us, supports us, carries us and rescues us. When we follow Him the way He desires there isn’t a burden that He places on us, and the burdens that we ourselves create He helps us deal with.

We were not designed to carry the world but God is. If today we feel that we are carrying the burdens of our life it is time time to discover the real Jesus who carries us.