“Come to Me all of you who are tired of carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest, take My yoke and put it on you, and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light” (Matthew 11: 28-30 GNV).
I love the verses above for so many reasons, but especially the picture Jesus gives us of exchanging our yoke for His. “Taking the yoke” is a symbolic expression that means “submit to me and become my disciple.” The yoke is symbolic of the condition of servitude. You might wonder, “Why would I exchange my problems to become a servant?” Well, Jesus was talking about bringing our burden of sin to Him and allowing Him to take it away so that we could be free. However, I think this verse remains pertinent for the believer too, for those who have already given the Lord the burden of their sin.
Even though I am forgiven and rejoice in that, the world has a way of heaping “burdens” on my shoulders. The funny thing is I am always quick to spot someone else who is carrying a heavy burden that needs to be “exchanged,” but am slow to recognize the load I am lugging around myself! My neck and shoulders are usually my first clue. They just feel like I’m shouldering a lot of weight. So Jesus says to take His yoke and put it on. To call those who are weary and burdened to take a yoke upon them looks like adding affliction to the afflicted, but the important part lies in the “My.” It’s as if Jesus says, “You are under a yoke which makes you weary. Shake that off and try Mine, which will make it easy.”
What is Jesus’ yoke anyway? It’s total submission to the Father. He was gentle and humble in heart and content to be in the lowest places at the will of His Father. You might not expect submission to lift the load off of your shoulders, but it does. When we submit our lives to the Lord, He takes all of our “stuff” upon Himself and our only job is to follow where He leads. Go ahead make the exchange, you’ll never regret it and your shoulders will thank you!
—submitted by Leah Swanson, US
