Take my yoke

 Michael Sprague

I just read a heart skipping, jaw dropping invitation that is dripping with hope. 

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Are you weary? Exhausted? Numb? Burnt-out? Stuck? Loaded down? Defeated?

Are you trying to control the uncontrollable and please the unpleasable?

How is your soul? Do you feel like you are on an endless treadmill of checking off boxes, jumping through hoops and trying to earn God’s love? 

Do you want a soul that is more peaceful, secure, whole, free, joyous, and alive? The GREAT INVITATION from the REST-MAKER is:

1. COME. Come to Jesus. He does not say Come to church, a creed, systems of theology, pastor, rules, religion. All those things have their place, but the invitation is to Come to Jesus by faith. COME not DO. Come and get attached to a Person by GRACE. You cannot have the life of God without having the life of God.

2. TAKE MY YOKE. Huh? Does that strike you as odd? Why not “Take my La-Z-Boy or Orthopedic Mattress?” No. Unyoked leads to the uneasy life and yoked leads to the easy life. Through the object lesson of the ox yoke, Jesus invites us to yoke to Him for salvation and soul-rest. If you try to run your own life you will ruin it. 

3. LEARN FROM ME. Over time we learn the WORDS and RHYTHMS of Jesus. We do not try harder but train better. We are not trying to earn but learning to cooperate.

An old legend in Israel says that Jesus built the best yokes in Israel. The sign over his carpenter shop said, “My yokes fit.” Yokes were not factory made but custom made. I do not know if the legend is true, but I know Jesus’ yokes are well fitting. The easy yoke does not mean an easy life. The offer is rest for our souls not our backs. The only joyful yokes come from union and abiding in Jesus. In Him, our vertical relationship with God is anchored and our sin debt is paid. There is peace with God and rest from guilt, shame, and hopelessness.

Will you COME and happily put your neck in His YOKE?