The Yoke of Christ

Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.


Weary and burdened could just about describe our entire society. Go, go, go – it seems that’s what life is about these days. If you want to have dinner with a friend, it has to be planned weeks in advance in order to work around all the schedules that will be converging for those few hours. Rest is definitely a prescription we could all use. So Christ bids us "come."

Then He tells us that we must take His yoke upon us, as though we are His farmyard animals being sent out into the field to pull the plow. Doesn’t sound very restful to me, how about you? A yoke is so often associated with work, and hard labor. This, however, is a different yoke. It is the yoke of His Lordship, Jesus Christ. It seems so illogical that we would need His yoke on us in order that we would be rested, doesn’t it?

However, it really comes down to this – we have two choices: the yoke of the world, or the yoke of Christ. Seems a simple choice, and yet we so often choose to carry the weight of the world upon our shoulders, as though we can really make a difference that way, not realizing that instead of affecting the world, it is, in fact, affecting us.

A yoke is actually designed not for work, necessarily, but for direction – to tell us to go left or right, to stop or go, all the while completing the work of the one who is directing us. So, again, we have two choices: do we want to be directed by the world, going where it would have us go, non-stop, grinding us into the ground; or do we want Christ at the helm, directing us, guiding us, giving us strength when we need it, and granting us rest when we are weary? Do we want to do the work the world would have us complete, full of folly and wickedness, with no real reward; or do we want to complete the work the Lord has planned for us, gaining wisdom, blessing, and love along the way? Seems the obvious choice, doesn’t it?

So, why do we continue to pick up the yoke the world wants to place on us? Why can’t we turn from the world, and carry the yoke of Christ? I think the answer lies in the fact that we spend far more time with the world than we do with Christ, or so it seems. I’m not talking about running away and joining a convent. I am simply suggesting that we need to make a more concerted effort to make Christ a part of our every activity – large or small, at home or work, no matter where we are, or what we are doing, we must learn to remain conscious of His presence, His direction, His love. It will take time. It will take practice. We cannot beat ourselves up every time we let Him slip from our minds. We must simply re-focus and continue on our way.

Let’s ask God to help us keep Him at the front of our thoughts, starting today. I can’t wait to see the change in each of us, as we throw off the yoke of the world, and slip into the soft, comforting yoke of Christ Jesus, our Lord.