The Yoke

"'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."     
Matthew 11:28-29

Over the living room fireplace Ken and I have hung a family treasure. It's an old-fashioned oxen yoke hand-hewn out of wood. It's been in the family forever. As a little boy, my father would yoke his dad's oxen to haul coal. That yoke doesn't quite go with the décor in our living room, but that doesn't matter. It's a treasure. And it's an object lesson.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus called His yoke easy and light? A yoke appears to be a weighty burden, but it actually makes the workload light for the animal. A plow or a coal drag would be intolerable if it were attached to the oxen any other way (before yokes were devised, farmers of old used leather straps around the animal's neck - but it hampered their breathing). But when you work an animal by means of a yoke, the weight he has to pull doesn't harm him. The load becomes light.

A yoke is not a contrivance to make work hard. It's a gentle device to make hard labor light. A yoke is not meant to give pain but to save pain. Think of that as you read Jesus' words for today.

Work is a fact of life. Burdens are inevitable. But you have a choice: either drag your workload under your own strength or put on the yoke of Christ.

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Jesus says, "Come." If you're weary and burdened, let Him give you rest. You'll find a deep, sweet, peaceable rest even in the midst of your labors when you put on Christ's yoke.

Lord, as I feel the burdens of this day, remind me that You have provided a yoke that eases the stress and keeps me from straining needlessly. Show me how to experience Your rest for my weary soul.

Blessings,

Joni and Friends

Taken from More Precious Than Silver. 
Copyright © 1998 by Joni Eareckson Tada