The yoke of God

Lord I am ashamed that I do not reach to you when I need help making a decision or when I am feeling sad, confused, or happy. Thank you for all of the blessings you have provided for me. I know I take everything for granted and when I start to look at my life I realise that I have much more than I deserve. You are a gracious God. Thank you for not leaving me when I tried to run from you. Thank you for waiting with arms wide open.

Lord I am selfish. Please rid me of my selfishmness and replace it with a desire to glorify you. Please ignite the fire within me and let it be a burning reminder of why I live. Amen

It is hard to stop and talk to God when we are emotional. Personally, I am going to try and go to God for everything. We cause ourselves so much stress when we worry about or try to change things that are out of our control. My best friend quoted a line to me from this passage today:

"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

I was confused by the word yoke, and so here is a devotional I found that explains it very well:

"My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30, NIV).

These words that Jesus speaks seem impossible. How can a yoke be easy and a burden light? A yoke constrains. It's placed on animals to make them work slavishly. And a burden by its very nature is heavy, isn't it? But Jesus, as he so often does, encourages us to look at these things from a new perspective -- His perspective. The Greek word used for "yoke" in this passage from Matthew literally means "to team" or "to pair". When a farmer trained a new ox, he would yoke it with an older, trained animal. He would fit the yoke tightly to the experienced ox, but loosely to the inexperienced one. This meant that the experienced ox did all the work pulling the load while the inexperienced one simply walked beside him, learning how to do the job without having to pull any of the weight itself. What a wonderful description of what Jesus does for us!

When we team up with Him, He pulls the load while we walk with Him, observing, listening, and learning as we go. The Greek word used for "easy" in this verse can be literally translated "kind" and it means "beneficial" or "good". God's yoke is good for us. Being paired with Jesus helps us to plough through this difficult life successfully. The "burden" Christ places on us is simply the request to follow His lead. When we do that, what seems impossible suddenly becomes possible. For that reason, His burden is light.

How many of us are trying to pull our loads alone? How many of us resist yoking ourselves to Christ and following Him in all things? I know that I did for a long, long time. But chronic illness taught me that doing things my way, apart from the Lord, was doing things the hard and often unsuccessful way. Friends, no matter what your situation, I encourage you to take that easy yoke of Christ. In doing so, you will surely make whatever burden you carry light.

Challenge #2: Cry out to God everyday. Praise Him for His blessings and trials. Go to Him like you would a close friend. Instead of thinking "what do I want" replace it with "how can I glorify God". I pray that you (and I) may happily wear the yoke so that you may grow in the Lord everyday.