Yoked
…. My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
(Matthew 11:30, NKJV)
A poem by John Donne, gave us the famous quote “no man is an island”. The essence of the poem is to emphasis that the interconnectedness of the human race. It does not matter how great or powerful one is, there is always something that he needs help with. In our daily lives, it is true that none of us is all independent and that we are so much the better when we embrace each other as of value, we are a part of each other. There are phrases in our daily language that remind us of the power of being connected to others, for example, “strength in unity”, “together we are stronger” and “diversity is our strength” and others. Any time these words are used, we are called to the awareness of our need for each other. Our reference verse spoken by Jesus Christ, introduces a word that we do not hear often, “yoke”. Checking the Merriam Webster dictionary, I noted that a yoke is a wooden frame which joins two or more oxen at their necks, so that they pull a plough with their combined strength to work. The yoke helps to control their movements so that they have to pull in tandem and in that way, each benefits from the power that the other puts in the work. The farmer who yokes the oxen, chooses which ones to enjoin based on their strength and experience on the job. You will find that a weaker ox is joined with a stronger ox, so that he is supported to pull the plough. The yoke while it could be seen as controlling and unwelcome is helpful to the weaker ox and collectively, the two animals benefit from their joint effort.
This reflection opened my eyes to a new understanding of the above verse and the message that Jesus was giving us. He knew we are weak on our own and will not make it in our walk of faith by our own strength, we have no righteousness of our own and even when we try to live holy, we fail. Paul put it clearly when he said that he fails to do the good that he desires to do, ending up doing that which is wrong (Romans 7:15-20). Paul states the fact that it is not in our human nature to do what is good for in us dwells a sinful nature. When we sincerely look into our lives, we can declare with Paul that we have no ability to do good and are wretched but for the grace of God (Romans 7:24). This being our reality, Jesus welcomes us to be enjoined with Him and so He uses the imagery of being yoked to Him. Unlike the oxen who are not asked to join up or not, Jesus asks us to take up His yoke, helping us know that this yoking is voluntary, we are to bend our heads and allow His yoke upon us. Beloved, accepting His yoke voluntarily means that we do not struggle to bend down our lifted heads, we are humble to accept to go under His yoke joyfully. In the previous verse (Matthew 11:29), He entreats us to Himself by letting us know that when we take His yoke upon us, we learn from Him the things of holy living that we do not know about, we learn to have a gentle and humble heart like His and the conclusion of this is that our hearts find rest.
Rest is only going to be found when we have surrendered to His easy yoke, learnt from Him and received a heart like His. Beloved, we rest from our labours as the burdens we carry are shared with Him, He who is all-powerful and able. Prophet Isaiah affirmed to us that God gives power to the weak and increases strength to those who have no might (Isaiah 40:29). The benefits of being yoked to Jesus are enormous, all for our good as we lean on His strength for our daily living. May this be the experience of our lives.
Thoughts:
What does the above verse speak to you?
Are there areas of your life not surrendered to Jesus’ yoke?
How have you experienced the benefits of taking Jesus’ yoke?