The Yoke and the Burden

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  Matthew 11:30

Is there really such a thing as God wanting too much?  I don’t know about you but sometimes I sure feel that way!  It feels like as soon as I get one spiritual wrinkle smoothed out, He fluffs the fabric and then there’s another wrinkle!  Then my good sense takes over and I realized it’s not a matter of God wanting too much, but rather it’s me not wanting to give something to Him. 

This one little verse from Matthew’s Gospel is a doozie isn’t it! More than once I’ve read it and thought…really God…sometimes doing things your way is NOT easy or light.  Sometimes it’s really, really hard and I just don’t know if I’m getting it right.  I don’t know about you but I can get a little stressed out sometimes trying to do everything he asks me to do!

I’ve had these thoughts sitting on my heart a lot lately and the other day I turned on the TV to check the weather and I stumbled across an episode of Little House on the Prairie.  In this particular episode Pa was busy hooking up the horses to plow the field.  As Pa hitched up the horses he put a yoke around each of their necks.  As the horses began the difficult work ahead the yoke and harness made it much easier for them.  They stayed together and were able to keep the same pace and work together as one stronger unit.  That was it…I finally got it.  Jesus’ yoke is a double; one for me and one for him.  I don’t have to do the work by myself, that was never his plan at all.  His yoke is easy and his burden is light because he’s stronger than me so he will always take the lead, pick up the slack and do the heavy part.

Being a disciple is not always easy but it's not a solo job.  Sometimes he does ask a lot of us so the next time I feel like the burden is too heavy or too hard, I’m going to think about that episode of Little House on the Prairie and remember that I don’t have to do the work alone. The next time I’m stuck in the middle of a tough decision or temptation instead of trying to worm my way out of it alone I’ll remember to put my head down and walk closely with Jesus asking him to pull ahead a little harder because I’m feeling weak.  I’ll also remember we’re connected, just like Pa’s horses so I know he’ll always be right there beside me.

A Seed To Plant: Think about a burden you are trying to bear and then imagine being hitched to Jesus like Pa’s horses.  Just sit there for a few minutes and imagine charging ahead and pulling that burden with the help of Jesus right beside you doing the heavy stuff.

Blessings on your day!