August 24

My Yoke is Easy

"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. My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:29, 30

We often think of a yoke as a burden, but really a yoke is a very useful tool, one which enables one to carry a burden greater than one could normally carry. When we take up the yoke of Christ, we are enabled to carry burdens that would otherwise weigh us down and destroy us. A. W. Tozer writes, "The man who surrenders to Christ exchanges a cruel slave driver (sin) for a kind and gentle Master whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light." The words of our Lord in this passage seem to be contradictory. How can we take upon ourselves a yoke and yet find rest? The answer is that Christ's yoke comes with Christ. He is the one who will enable us to carry the load. It is in his strength that the burden is lifted and carried forward. The burden, that would have laid us out flat, is carried with little effort because Christ is doing the carrying. There is a key to allowing Christ to take up our burden for us: we must learn from him gentleness and humility. We need to come to the end of ourselves and realize that we are not capable of carrying our burdens ourselves. Only when we are ready to give up control and give control to Christ will we find rest for our souls and that His yoke is easy and burden is light.

Father, thank you for allowing us to exchange the awful burden of sin for Christ's yoke! Help us to come to the end of ourselves and give all control in our lives to our gentle Master who died for us. May we with joy take up that yoke with a gentle and humble heart and find rest for our souls! Amen