Today’s Bible Verse
Then Jesus said, “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 (NLT)
My Yoke is Easy
When you read your Bible, many times you will read Jesus telling us to follow Him. But in this verse, you will find the one time He tells us to come to Him. We all go through different seasons in our lives, but there is one thing I can say we all need, and that’s direction from the Lord. In this verse He is telling us to come to Him, in the Passion translation it reads, “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis.”
An oasis is a fertile spot in a desert, where water is found. In the midst of what may seem to be the desert, Jesus is our Oasis, our living water. A yoke is a harness used by oxen and other animals to ease the work of hauling a load. The yoke was meant as a designation of servitude and carrying the burden of a task. When Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you” (Matthew 11:29), He meant that we are to submit ourselves to Him every day in every way.
A yoke is made of wood, hand carved to fit the neck and shoulders of the animal to prevent pain or discomfort. The word yoke was a term that was used to describe submission. So when someone was described as being yoked to someone or something, it was communicating the idea that he or she was in submission to that person or thing. So to be yoked to Jesus is to serve and obey Him, but it is in that submission with obedience that He makes everything we’re carrying, light. (Sergio Tarin, Word of Life Orange)
An Uncommon Life
Two oxen are chosen to share a yoke. The first is an older, seasoned ox. He is trained from the years of his work routine. The second is a young ox who is still inexperienced, but has the potential to become the “older experienced” ox. By sharing the same yoke with an older ox, the young ox will not only learn from the seasoned ox, but the experienced ox does the harder workload, the majority of the load. Since the older one leads, the younger ox does not have to wonder what to do. It’s in this process that the younger ox learns from the more seasoned ox and can later become the seasoned ox to teach the younger ones. This resembles discipleship. Jesus invites us to learn from Him which is another way of inviting us to be His disciples. There’s peace in doing things His way, following His lead and helping others do the same.
Today’s Declaration
Today, I declare that I will not carry the load on my own. I know that Jesus’ yoke is light and that with Him, I don’t have to carry the load alone.
Today’s Bible Reading
- Old Testament: 2 Samuel 23-24; Psalms 118
- New Testament: Mark 16; Galatians 6
