The yoke's on you

Today's Scripture

I am probably going to make a bunch of you mad today. A very popular piece of prose hanging in people’s homes is the ‘footprints’ poem. In it, the author talks about looking back on their lives and seeing two sets of footprints, but only one in difficult times. God then says that ‘it was then that I carried you’. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when God carries us, but Jesus describes a different way in which he helps us through the difficult times.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” This does not really sound different than the ‘footprints’ poem. God gives us rest when we are labored and burdened and maybe not feeling like we can go on. But the WAY that Jesus eases our burden is incredibly important. To see this we have to look at the next verse. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” Jesus chooses to be yoked with us. When we look at oxen, we think of beasts of burden and the yoke is what burdens them, but the key is that there are two yoked together. This allows them to be consistent and maintain momentum when one looses footing, or feels weary.

This is the kind of rest that Jesus gives us. Down in the everyday with us, slogging through the mud, helping us to continue to move forward despite slipping or becoming weary. This is how the God of the Universe chose to save us and lift our burden. Not by magically lifting the burden from somewhere in the clouds, but by strapping it on right next to us in the very hardest elements of our human work.

Here is the question: Are we willing to put His yoke upon our shoulders (with Him)? Somehow, we think that having Jesus as our constant work companion will be more work, that it will make our life harder. This might be true in some elements, but for the majority of our human experience, and particularly when it comes to the hard parts, the times when we feel burdened, we can rely on His yoke to be easy and His burden light. Yoke yourself to Him every morning, and allow His yoke to be on you. You will find the days to be easier, guaranteed.