Carrying the Yoke…

Matthew 11:29:” Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Recently I read this portion and was thinking about the Yoke of Christ. His teaching and His principles- which is the yoke He is calling us to bear. I found that Jesus’s lifestyle was and still is today the mandate to which we are called to live, worry free, trusting our Heavenly Father to take care of us. This is to us sometimes a daunting reality as we try to solve, understand and work everything out ourselves.

It’s sometimes hard for us to visualize what Jesus is saying here; for the yoke is not something you see every day. Those who know the history of the “Voortrekkers” will know very well what a yoke is. The heavy wooden bar which is formed to fit around the necks of the animals (ox) restricts their movement and forces them to keep in step while following the directions of the driver. The yoke is bearable as long as the animals follow directions and act as a team, however if one decides to move independently, or take off in another direction, it can become painful.

Jesus is trying to tell us that His way is the only way. Some might say “the best way”, but that would imply that there are other ways that are acceptable and that is not what He is implying.

Walking through everyday life with Jesus is always going to be a struggle because He insists on us wearing the yoke, not to restrict us, but to teach us His ways. Most religions have strict rules which make demands on their followers, some of them quite severe. These rules are designed to make the person acceptable to their “god”.  Break the rules and you are no longer acceptable. However Christianity is the only faith in which believers have already been made acceptable. There is nothing more we can do to make us more acceptable, we are already as accepted as we will ever be! So, the yoke is not to either make us acceptable or keep us being acceptable, it’s about walking with God, so it’s designed to HELP us. Jesus reinforces this idea by saying “if you will walk with Me, you’ll find REST for your souls. So we could say, the yoke is to bring us into rest.

Still, who wants to wear a yoke? Even the possibility of pain makes us wince. Anyway, hasn’t Christ made us free – why the need for a yoke anyway?

We must understand that the way of faith does not come natural to us. Even when we are soundly saved – (made “acceptable” to God), we are still committed in our minds to doing things “our way”. Living by faith does not come naturally, it’s difficult, we want to do what seems “right” and have God “bless it”. However, as James states, we will not receive anything from God this way, for God will not reward “double-mindedness”. God demands we walk by faith and receive His provisions by faith – and if we draw back He is disappointed (Heb 10:38)  – (now this doesn’t mean that we are no longer acceptable, it just means that when we “draw back” from the faith walk He is not able to rejoice over us as He meets our needs).

Still thousands want the blessings of God without exercising faith and express disappointment and unbelief when they don’t receive what they needed or desired. It’s just not God’s way. We must learn that God’s sovereign blessings are the exception and not the rule. The rule is – everything by faith, based upon the promises in the Word. It’s a manifestation of God’s kindness that He does small things to “help” us, but God’s sovereign actions will always be limited for He has designed for us to receive a different way. He has designed that we should live by faith – and not draw back from that lifestyle  - even though it is hard for us to embrace.
 The yoke then is voluntary, it’s to our advantage that we wear it, for in walking with Him we will learn His ways and overcome our natural tendencies to want to receive from God without faith. Will it be difficult? Yes, it will – but we need to learn His ways. Will it sometimes be painful, will we sometimes find ourselves in difficult situations for which there is no other solution than holding on to God? Yes, but every time we break through, every time we succeed in the life of faith, the closer we will get to the rest that comes from being assured that the life of faith is indeed the God blessed life – and in that rest will be confidence that  every need will be met by His Gracious hand.

When we reach that place, fear will no longer be able to control or affect us – and really this is where Jesus wants us to be – it is here that we truly become free. Living in complete faith that my heavenly Father knows what I need and I completely trust in Him!

 Andries

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