His Yoke!

When we think of 'freedom,' a strange truth hits us.  We are free only until we make a choice!  After that, that choice controls us and becomes a yoke!  Whether drinking, smoking, or playing computer games, you are free only until you start.  It becomes our Yoke of bondage after we get hooked!  We are all creatures of habit, with passions and weaknesses, that when we break one Yoke, we at once bend our necks to another and begin to serve something else.  One who makes his belly his god bows down to the lusts of the flesh.  Jesus said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:20-30).  If we look at this in another way, we can see that we are never really 'free' but under some yoke or the other.  Jesus offers His Yoke to us and assures us that it would be ‘easy’ and 'light'!

What is the Yoke Jesus was referring to?

Essentially, a yoke was a harness used by oxen to haul loads.  When the oxen are yoked together, each cannot go in separate ways.  Where one goes, the other also goes!  When we take on the Yoke of Jesus, we must walk with Jesus!  There is no other way!  When Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you," He meant that we are to submit ourselves to Him every day in every way.  We would be under Satan's Yoke if we do not submit to the Yoke of Christ.  Adam wore an easy Yoke in the Garden of Eden.  When he broke it, he and his posterity came under the heavy Yoke of Satan.  Jesus said that His Yoke is easy.  The Yoke of Jesus is easy because Jesus carries our burdens.  Jesus helps us, guides us, and supports us daily.  The Yoke of sin, regret, and remorse are very heavy to bear.  But if we bring our brokenness to Jesus with a repentant heart, Jesus forgives us and gives us peace of mind!  That is the easy Yoke of Jesus! 

My friend, if we reject the easy Yoke of Christ, we will suffer under the heavy Yoke of despair, dejection, and doom.  Let us today submit to the Lordship of Christ wholeheartedly and walk with Him so that we will not suffer under the devil's Yoke!

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