I always remember being told that the load Jesus expected of his people was not something that should be a burden and basically if you think about the core to Christianity, it is not. Basically, Jesus said to love one another and to treat others how you would want to be treated and to respect the life you have. I don't ever remember Jesus saying, "Have 5 meetings a week, two assemblies a year and one convention. Also, to spend at least 10 hours a month in preaching work and read four magazines a month and a couple books a year. It seems like somewhere, trying to be Christians, the Witnesses lost the point to the light load. People in this world do not want to be weighed down with so much, when they have a normal life to live around that. People want a simple, easy religion that makes them feel good about themselves and gives them hope after death and comfort in sorrow. That is not what the Witnesses offer.
I remember the examples of the Pharisees, who did all sorts of things to show just how wonderful they were. How they wore that box on their head with scripture written in it, how they wore special robes, and how they prayed out loud for all the world to see. Jesus told them they were foolish and wasting their efforts and were nothing but show. Yet to me this is the Witnesses. That box on their forehead is the time they write down each month, to show people how spiritual they are. That robe they were, is the knowledge they claim to have about the Bible, that they spend endless hours researching and are expected to read. The public prayer in the open, is the amount of time they proclaim all that they do. I am an elder, a pioneer, a Bethelite and perhaps a Circuit Overseer. It all just looks like a heavy load that far surpasses the basics of being the simple light load that Jesus expected.
I think in the beginning the Witnesses might have had a desire to do what was right and to find some pure message in the Bible, but as time went on and they become so compulsive about wanting to be pure. They added to their daily load, piece by piece, event by event, and expectation by expectation of what they felt a Witness of Jehovah would be. To the point, that the wonderful organization skills they cherished, became the overload they added to their people. So that their people have become no different then the Jews that Jesus counseled. Saying that you read the law, and it is not enough, you add on to it. Christianity, religion, etc. Should not be the whole part of your life, it should be a light load and no matter what religion you belong too and even with me not being a Christian. I can tell you, the load that is spoken of by Jesus is light.
"love one another" - "Treat people the way you want to be treated" - "Respect the life you have"
When I left the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, it felt like an enormous load was lifted from me. I no longer felt the guilt, the overburden of time and the high pressure of expectation that was on me. I truly realized just how wrong the track was, that Witnesses were on. For if they followed a man who claimed to be a light load, then they needed a scale to weigh the one they were hauling, and they would see they were not listening as well as they thought they were.
Would you agree?