In Mat. 11:29 (NKJV) Jesus said “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”.
I discovered a long time ago how hard (almost impossible) it is to go through life in my own strength. I tried to carry all the weight of the world and life circumstances, only to humbly realize that I needed help. Now, even though all my problems didn’t vanish, the weight of it all got significantly lighter and I found out that no matter what comes my way, I’m gonna make it it because I teamed up (yoked) with very best there is. Jesus.
The thing about a yoke is that both involved share the burden. If one starts to slack, the other will back off a little until the pace is picked back up by the one slacking. The result is a balancing of the load between them. An equally shared burden. When both parts feel the load is back in balance, they’ll push harder and go further. You cannot have unequal parts or the purpose of the yoke is useless.
Jesus not only said for us to take His yoke, but also to learn from Him. If two oxen are yoked together and plowing, they quickly balance their efforts to where they know each other, and work equally. They learn from each other, and the combined forces that are greater than the sum of individual efforts. So let’s take Jesus’ yoke and learn from Him.
Blessings!
Elder Steve Smith