Lightest Way To Live

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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.

Matthew 11:28-30

I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear the word yoke, I immediately think of egg yolk. Of course, that isn’t what Jesus is talking about in these verses from Matthew. Those who heard His words understood the reference. A yoke, according to The Scholastic Children’s Dictionary, is “a wooden frame attached to the necks of work animals, such as oxen, to connect them so they can plow or pull a heavy load.” Although we rarely see them used on animals in the Western world, yokes would have been common in Jesus’ time and are still widely found in third-world countries today.

How often have you rubbed your neck when you’re feeling stressed? Many of us carry the loads of life on our necks like yokes, which causes not only physical problems but mental, emotional, and spiritual burdens as well!

God did not design us for heavy loads. I like to imagine that the wooden yokes of Jesus’ day were made of the same wood as the cross He died upon. We are connected to God through Jesus’ death, and that connection—or yoke—isn’t burdensome. It feels light to us because it offers us freedom from sin instead of oppression.

In Matthew 11, those sweet words from our Savior are an invitation to align ourselves with Him. If we are weary and burdened, He lovingly wants us to come to Him for rest!

Wear a favorite scarf today to remind yourself that Jesus’ yoke is light and beautiful. Throughout the day, release to Jesus any emotional load that threatens to weigh you down.