It was the summer of 2009 and Jamey and I were attending a conference in Colorado. I distinctly remember sitting outside on beautiful sunny days admiring the splendor of the mountains surrounding us and questioning God about this verse:
“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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light.” Matthew 11: 28-30
God,
what does this mean? I thought I took
your yoke, so why am I weary? Why is
this so hard? Why is this so heavy? I know this verse should be encouraging, but
it isn’t when I didn’t find the truth in it.
So I kept seeking the Lord for understanding and over time He answered me.
Let's look into these verses together.
Let's start with the yoke. Do you know what a yoke is?
I didn’t really. I am definitely
not a farm girl. I don’t even know how to properly plant a flower, let alone to
have any knowledge of archaic farming equipment. I am thankful the Internet provides a wealth of
information about yokes and oxen from which I gained much insight about
Biblical references to yokes.
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What is the purpose of a yoke? How does it work?
A
yoke is a wooden beam placed on the backs of a pair of oxen and a u-shaped bow is
placed around the neck of each ox, which enables them to pull a heavy load
TOGETHER. A yoke makes the work easier
for the oxen because the burden is shared.
In
Matthew 11, Jesus invites us to come to Him and take His yoke. Yes, we are to carry a load, but with Jesus’
yoke the load should be lighter as we share the burdens with Him or with fellow
Christians.
The
yoke must be the right fit. When
researching I discovered there are specific directions for fitting oxen for
their yoke. In fact in the past yokes
were custom-made because yokes that didn’t fit just right would cause chaffing
and would wound the oxen. During Jesus’
time, the yokes were made of wood and fashioned by carpenters. Hmmm, wasn’t Jesus a carpenter? I wonder if he ever crafted yokes?
Yes,
my yoke was ill-fitting. I was being
rubbed raw and wounded. On the website,
oxhilldevons.com, I read, “You can’t expect an animal to give their all with
ill-fitting equipment.” Then I read in
Oxen: A Teamster’s Guide, when an ox is wearing a yoke that is too big or too
small it will exhibit signs of discomfort such as backing away, unwillingness
to work, and dropped heads. Wow! I was
an ox with an ill-fitting yoke! I was
showing the same signs. I wasn’t giving
my all. I was employing the equipment
with the wrong fit. How about you? How is your yoke fitting?
The
problem was I picked up the wrong yoke.
I wasn’t wearing the one the master carpenter crafted for me, the
tailored-made one. The One, who knit me
together in my mother’s womb and knows everything about me, knows how to custom
make my yoke, so I am not wounded or too burdened.
The Amplified Bible describes His yoke as, “wholesome
(useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious,
and pleasant).” He has made a yoke for you, too. Which yoke sits on your back an ill-fitted
one or the custom-made, properly fitted one?
Are you wearing the yoke of sin?
Or the yoke of the law? Or the yoke of lies? Or the yoke of expectations? Or the yoke of trying to do it all? Are you chaffed? Are you wounded? Are you weary?
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May
I encourage you to take off any yoke that Jesus has not given to you and allow
him to fit you with the right one? Jesus
invites you to come and take the yoke he has for you, the one that is
comfortable, gracious, pleasant and easy to bear. No more backing away and dropping your head.
Hopefully
next week we can learn how to be trained to work with a new yoke!
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