You Aren’t Alone

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

As a gardener, stories of planting and harvesting used in the Bible often resonate with my own experiences, providing me with a deeper understanding of the point being made. Still, teaming up oxen to plow the ground is completely beyond my frame of reference, and the thought of taking on Jesus’ yoke has always left me feeling slightly bewildered. The invitation sounds—on the surface—vaguely lovely, but it evoked confusion rather than adding clarity and understanding to the verses found in Matthew 11.

It wasn’t until Pastor Dave added cultural and contextual background one Sunday morning that I had tears welling up as I reconsidered this invitation. To my understanding, yoking involves tying two oxen (or other beasts of burden) together so that their strength is used jointly, making the hard work of plowing soil significantly easier.

I didn’t initially understand that wise farmers yoke one strong animal with one weaker animal, with the bigger end of the yoke going on the more powerful beast. The weaker ox’s strength is used, but it’s leveraged: the weak animal can do more, go further because it’s tied to a stronger one.

In other words, Jesus is asking us to go on mission with him, but he is the stronger of our two-person team, and he is going to take the heavier end of the burden. We are never in ministry alone (note: if you strive to love God and love others as commanded in Mark 12:28-34, you are in ministry), and the seemingly private struggles we encounter are never born single-handedly.

My tears that Sunday morning were of gratitude as I reconsidered Jesus’ promise. When we agree to go on mission with him, he promises to carry the bulk of the load, never leaving us to plow hard, rocky ground on our own.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

With this deeper understanding of being yoked with Jesus, what is one burden you’ll bring to him, asking to be yoked together with him as you carry it?