The Lord is Our Yoke

 The Lord is Our Yoke - Cast Your Cares to the Lord

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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 11:28-30)

My Yoke is Made Easy

A yoke was a harness used by oxen and other animals to ease the work of hauling a load. It was also meant as a designation of servitude and carrying the burden of a task or mission. 💔

we take the Savior’s yoke upon us and do his will, we will find the peace and joy that he has promised.

How far could you carry this burden before stopping to rest? 😴

There are many kinds of loads, or burdens. Some are physical, while others are spiritual or emotional and not as easy to see. Many unseen burdens can exceed our strength to bear them alone, and we become weary. This lesson discusses how the Lord can lighten our burdens and bring us rest. 😎

Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon us and learn of him.

In the same way, when we trudge through life without God’s guidance, we “are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19). By accepting Jesus’ yoke instead, we allow Him to walk with us and share the load. 😅

Taking His yoke doesn’t mean holding onto the things that weigh us down, like unforgiveness, bitterness, and shame. Instead, taking His yoke gives us freedom from these things as we humble ourselves before Him. 😄

We will all face incredible difficulties in this life. Some may suggest that becoming a Christian relieves us of suffering, but that isn’t true. Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Jesus knew we would face trouble, so He welcomed our reliance on Him.

In 1 Peter 5:7 it says to cast our cares to him because he cares. 💓 His great love for us. We are not alone with the burden. 💓

You can give your heaviness for renewed ease that day, which is why I felt lighter. We can replace our overwhelmed lives with God’s peace when we give our burdens to Jesus.

-- Coach Teresa Morin -- 

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You can also look at it as sin 

Neither Moses nor the Pharisees could give rest from the pressing burden or offer release from the oppressive load that the Law brought. Christ, recognizing that there was no other course to rest and peace than that to be found through submission to Himself, invited people out of their old discipleship to a new one.

The reason people find rest by taking Christ’s yoke is that His yoke is a different kind of yoke.

When the Law was imposed on humans, it did not bring liberty. It brought bondage. Rather than freedom, it brought oppression. Instead of a sense of release, it got a sense of guilt and failure.

The Pharisees made no effort to bring freedom and liberty. In fact, their system imposed heavy burdens (Matt 23:4). 

Our Lord looked at a nation under a heavy burden that the Pharisees did not try to lift from those who were crushed beneath its load. And He came to say, “Come to me . . . and I will give you rest.”

Notice our Lord’s invitation when He said to this oppressed multitude, “Come to me” (v. 28). Moses had offered the children of Israel the Law at Mount Sinai. And Israel responded by saying, “We will do everything the Lord has said” (Ex 19:8). The people voluntarily submitted themselves to the Law and were yoked to the Law. 

This is the same invitation our Lord had given to the first apostles. In Mark 1:16–17 Christ summoned Simon and his brother Andrew with “Come, follow me.” And He did the same with James son of Zebedee and his brother John.

But how could Christ give rest? The strange contradiction is that Christ exchanged the yoke of Pharisaism for another yoke. “Take my yoke upon you” is how people find rest. The questioner might ask, “If I must bear a yoke, what difference does it really make, whether it be the yoke of Pharisaism or the yoke of Christ? After all, a yoke is a yoke.”

Coach Teresa Morin
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As they submit to His authority and are yoked with Him, they will find rest for their souls.

Christ did not say to the distressed, “Come to me, and I will remove all yokes from you and give you rest.” His invitation and the condition upon which people would experience the results were found in taking “my yoke upon you.” To take Christ’s yoke means to submit oneself to the authority of Christ. It means putting ourselves under His rule and joining with Him. He is inviting people to put their shoulders into a new yoke in which He is the yoke mate. And He promises that they will find rest for their souls as they submit to His authority and are yoked with Him.

Are you restless, child of God? Often distraught, discouraged? Perhaps at the edge of despair? Put your shoulder into His yoke so that He might bear the burden. Learn to walk yoked to Jesus Christ, and you will find rest for your soul. This is His promise.