Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest ( relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good — not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne (Matt 11:28-30 – Amplified)
We are yoked with Jesus! When I’m in Ethiopia traveling south from Addis Ababa, I see oxen yoked together plowing in a field. Or we’re passing through a small town and I see donkeys yoked together pulling a cart. The yoke connects the oxen or donkeys by the neck and evenly distributes the load they are pulling.
The main deal is that the yoke will only work well if the oxen or the donkeys that are yoked walk in step with each other. If one stops, it hinders the other and they don’t get very far.
To be yoked with Jesus means that He is helping me with my load. If I fail to walk in sync with Him then I am causing undue stress and I’m not taking advantage of the help He’s offering. He has much more power and ability than I do, so He brings to the yoke process the majority of strength. If I’ll just walk with Him by being a doer of the Word, then He carries the load and I have a carefree stroll walking along beside Him.
If I was yoked to a person weak and smaller than me, then I would be helping them carry their load! But every day, Jesus wants to be yoked with me as I work, as I relate to family, as I deal with finances, as I deal with children, as I minister. This produces a rest for me because someone else is helping me with the tasks I’m involved with all day long! And the someone yoked to me is so much bigger than me!
Don’t resist the yoke that Jesus offers you today! His yoke is easy, and He will lighten the load. Act on His Word, speak the Word, fellowship with Him in prayer, and enjoy the stroll!