Being "Yoked" with Jesus

At first sight and thought, not many of us would want to be put in this contraption called a "yoke". It looks confining and painful; that it might mean we have to do or go somewhere that we don't want to, or that it's bound to be something about "work". But let's take the following scripture and look at it from the viewpoint of "walking in the Spirit".

Matthew 11:28-30
28. "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. 30. "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.

Jesus is asking us to team up with Him. To walk alongside Him day after day, to accomplish our tasks. Think about the work that one ox would have to do. It would need to carry a heavy load or it would be assigned the job of pulling a heavy wagon. Whichever one, it would be doing it by itself, without help.

God knows that as we travel through our lives that we will have many occasions to carry a heavy load. Whether it is in the area of responsibility for our family, or for a job, or a ministry, etc. God knows there are many loads to be carried in life. How much better it is when we "team up with Jesus" and let Him shoulder our burdens and responsibilities.

"Jesus invites you to a restful walk in tandem with Him, just as two oxen walk together under the same yoke. "How can a yoke  be restful?" you might ask. Because Jesus' yoke is an easy yoke. As the lead ox, Jesus walks at a steady pace. If you pace yourself with Him, your burden will be easy. But if you take a passive approach to the relationship, you'll be painfully dragged along in the yoke, because Jesus keeps walking. Or if you try to race ahead or turn off in another direction, the yoke will chafe your neck and your life will be uncomfortable. The key to a restful yoke relationship with Jesus is to learn from Him and open yourself to His gentleness and humility."

Many people don't want to be hooked up with Jesus. As an immature Christian we don't want Him "telling us what we should do", and we don't want Him convicting us which might feel like we are being forced to do something. A lot of the times we would really prefer that Jesus not know what we're doing; that He just wouldn't "look at us" while we are thinking about that cute co-worker, going to the bar with an all-nighter planned, or fudging on the tax return. We don't want to be without Jesus on "judgement day", but the rest of the time He can just live up in Heaven and leave us alone.

I spent way too many years trying to do things by myself. I want to be in "relationship" and by that I mean I don't want to do it by myself. I need Jesus right there with me constantly, leading guiding and carrying the load for me.

I heard that when a young ox is being trained in the yoke, it is placed with an older more experienced one. The older one carries the brunt of the load. Most of the weight is put upon him. The younger one must learn to pace itself, not too fast, and not too slow. It learns when to start and stop. It learns from it's partner how to be in "relationship". This is like Jesus. He asks us to let Him train us in life. Let Him carry the heavy burden while we depend upon Him.
If you are feeling like the weight you are carrying is too heavy, call upon Jesus, He will send the Holy Spirit to take the load.

    More next time.

  Have a great weekend,

  love,

Debra