Yoke with Jesus
Scripture Reading: Matthew 11:28–30
“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,” Matthew 11:29.
Yoke with Jesus
Father, I thank you because as great as you are and as feeble as we are, you are humble, loving, and caring. You believe in us so much that you invite us to be yoked with you. I ask in Jesus’ name that you give us the grace to understand what it means to be yoked with you our Lord.
Matthew 11:28 begins with an invitation, “Come unto me,” and continues, “all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” We are told to take Jesus’ yoke, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” verse 30. Are you labouring for the Lord or for the world? Are you heavy-laden by your circumstances, in your church, family, or workplace? The Lord Jesus Himself is inviting you to come to Him and He will give you rest.
Firstly, we are to come to Jesus. If you are heavy laden, Jesus is the custodian of rest. Hebrews 4:9–10 says there now remaineth a rest for the people of God and those who enter into that rest are to cease from their work. We are to stop trying to prove a point, and to desist from the pressures of our time. We are to cease our work and deliberately enter into the rest of Jesus.
Secondly, we are to act, to take Jesus’ yoke upon us. A yoke is something that binds two entities. Usually a yoke is used on animals to get them to move in the same direction and to distribute the weight of the load so that it will not be on one animal or person alone. When the Lord says come and be yoked with me, it means your limited strength will be converted to unlimited strength. The Lord is saying there is a limit to what you can do but My abilities are limitless. Your provision, help, support, and physical abilities are limited whereas His are limitless. When Jesus says come and be yoked with me, it means to join your life to His so that you do not have to carry the burdens of life alone. You will flow in the same direction, work for the same God, receive blessings and assets together, and manage liabilities together because He is able to eliminate liabilities and make everything an asset.
When you are yoked with Jesus, His ability to provide becomes your ability to receive. It is in the yoke of Jesus that you can be blessed enough to be a blessing. Many of us are doubly yoked and are being pulled in two directions. On Sunday, we are very good Christians and by Friday we are lost in society’s culture.
We go with the cultural flow but say, Lord you know my heart is with you. Your heart is where your body is. Your heart cannot be with Jesus when your body is in the world. Nothing has changed, yet you say you are yoked with Him and that is not so. To be yoked with Jesus is to go in His flow because you are tied up with Him.
He says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me,” Matthew 11:29. When you are tied to Him you are forced to observe the way He does things. The verse continues, “…for I am meek and lowly in heart.” He has a lot of power and He can control the power. When you learn of Him and become meek, you will have a power and you will learn how to control it. You need to be humble, and to not think of yourself more highly than you ought.
Some of us are so great in our own estimation that God cannot use us; His blessings cannot flow from such hearts. May we have meekness and lowliness of heart so that we will find rest for our souls.
Some of us are struggling to prove points or trying to make extra money to earn the respect of others. We forget that there should be no competition. The devil is just deceiving us.
Nobody is interested in whether you are rich or poor; everybody is running their own race. Come to Jesus with a lowly heart where you have nothing to prove, nothing to worry about. When you are yoked with Him you will find rest for your soul. In Matthew 11:30 Jesus describes the terms of that contract binding you to Him: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” His yoke is easy because when you are yoked with Him, He carries you.
Being yoked with Jesus means you are married to Him, you live with Him, you go in His flow and direction; He commands you and you obey. As a result, He also carries every weight that comes upon your life. Come and taste and see that the Lord is good. If you are not yoked with Jesus, you have not started living life; you are carrying too much load. Even if you think you can carry it, it is too heavy for you. Walk with Jesus and He will make a difference in your life to the glory of God.
Prayer Points:
Brethren, the first step in walking with Jesus is to surrender your life to Jesus. Pray with me now, “I am yoking my life to you, Jesus. I surrender my life to you. Write my name in the book of life that I may be yoked with you. Let me experience a yoke with you carrying my burden and let my burden be light in Jesus’ name.” Amen.
