"Take My Yoke Upon You"

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Pastor Steuart Payne used this passage as the basis for his lesson today and while I was listening I saw pictures in my mind of, firstly, what a yoke is and, secondly, how powerful that image is.

The yoke Pastor Steu was talking about  is a wooden beam normally used between a pair of oxen to enable them to pull together when working in pairs and looks something like this:

The pairing needs to be equal in order to be efficient so you need to yoke two animals of similar size and strength like this:

You can see that the yoke falls across the shoulders of both oxen so that they share the load.

That is what it looks like to be yoked to Jesus. He told us to take on His yoke for His yoke is easy. This means that for us to yoke ourselves to Him we are working alongside Him and being led by Him. He will help us to carry our burdens and fears so that we are not overwhelmed by them. We can only gain strength from this, but we must make sure that we are always walking alongside Him throughout our daily lives.

Many of us carry our burdens all by ourselves like this:

Isn't it great to know that we don't have to - that there is someone who is not only able but willing to help with the load? Thank you, Jesus!

Others turn to the wrong kind of help - to those who will in fact only increase the weight we carry. This is what the enemy wants us to do. He wants us to turn from God as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden and follow the ways of this world, which are not God's ways. He wants to separate us from God's love and light!

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

Here is an example of what an unequal yoking looks like:

The yoke isn't even touching the mule's shoulders! Which means that the ox is not only carrying the whole load but the weight of the yoke as well! The ways of the world are like that mule - no help to you whatsoever - because the world in general doesn't really care, and in some cases will add to your burdens and bring you down further. Yes there are good people out there who don't believe in God, but they are merely human and will fail you eventually.

The yoke of Jesus, who is both fully human (so understands human frailty) and fully God (at one with the Father) - this is the only yoke you can rely on!

I'm reminded of the yoke that Jesus had to bear for our sins - the cross!

He had to carry this through the streets of Jerusalem being jeered at, spat upon and reviled by all those He passed - and all this after being beaten and whipped till His flesh was torn so badly that He was almost unrecognisable! He had objects and insults hurled at Him all along the route and was finally nailed to that awful burden to die a horrible death at the end of His long and arduous walk. 

This was His yoke! All of our sins were laid upon that cross. He literally carried the whole weight of our sin with Him to His death. And when He died, all our sins died with Him so that we can choose to live free and be back in relationship with the Father.

Since He did that for us, why wouldn't we choose to take up our cross and follow Him? This man, this Son of God, the Word made flesh showed us how to live in love and peace and harmony. He taught us that there is no other way to the Father but through Him. Yes, it's a narrow path but a sound one and He will be with us throughout our journey, helping and guiding us, through the Holy Spirit whom He sent to be our constant partner, friend amd companion. 

John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you."

John 16:13-14 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you."

Hallelujah!

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life! Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Salvation! Ever present, ever faithful, always approachable! Wherever you are, He will be with you! Just call on His name and He will hear! Don't struggle alone - give yourself to Jesus and He will help you with whatever it is that is weighing you down. 

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

All I can say to that is,

Amen!

Outside the Box!

Pastor Andy Elmes spoke today about seeing Jesus for who He actually is, not for what we think He is, and having a childlike faith - innocent, trusting and vulnerable. Children see Him clearly as someone who loves and cares for them. They don't have to see Him with their eyes, they trust Him because they "see" Him with their hearts. We need to make sure that we don't lose that simple faith in Jesus. 

Children don't see the world the same way we do as adults. Younger children in particular see with much more clarity of vision. They haven't yet learned to filter what they see. As adults we do this far too much. Consider what we see on social media these days, where you can take a photo of someone and completely transform it into something more acceptable to the world's eyes. Filtering out what the world considers to be blemishes and imperfections until it becomes a total lie! 

I looked up synonyms of the word "childlike" and came up with words such as guileless, naive, unsophisticated and unworldy! That last word - unworldy - struck a chord with me because as Christians, though we live in the world, we should not be conformed to the world! So taking that a little further, we are called to be unworldy - ergo childlike!

Matthew 19:13-14 "Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:1-5 "At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me."

Pastor Andy also brought up another aspect of what it is to see for yourself who Jesus really is rather than just seeing what we want Him to do for us. Throughout Jesus' time on this Earth there were people who had preconceived ideas of who or what He should be. Those people were happy to put the Messiah into a box that fit in with their plans and wants and desires, not realising, or perhaps forgetting, that while He was fully human, He was also fully God! So when He didn't "tick all the boxes" of their preconceptions because they had been expecting some great warrior or charismatic religious leader who would smite their enemies and free them from Roman rule, they spurned and condemned Him.

Colossians 2:9 "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"

John 10:30-33 "I and My Father are one." Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

Now let's talk about boxes! 

The problem with boxes is that, no matter how big they are, they all have set limitations! If we say that Jesus is this way or that way we are putting Him into a box - which is not only wrong, it's ridiculous! God doesn't have any limits! He doesn't fit into a box! 

The Jesus that I serve is working "outside the box!" Just look at those He chose as His disciples. These 12 people were not religious or political leaders, they weren't influential, weren't even teachers or speakers. They were just ordinary, run-of-the-mill, human, fallible people. Some would say the dregs of the Earth! He said they were the salt of the Earth and the light of the world! 

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

God works in mysterious ways and chooses the unlikeliest of people to do His bidding because He sees who we truly are and brings out our true potential.

So, the message is - remain childlike, joyful, innocent, and don't put Jesus into a box! Instead we should put the world, it's views, it's religious dogma, prejudices, fears - anything that's negative and doesn't come from God - into a huge box and lock it away out of sight and mind! 

All we really need to know about Jesus is His kindness, His mercy and His great and abiding love for us! Of course that shouldn't stop you from digging deeper into His word and finding out for yourself what kind of person He is!

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

He is the Word made flesh, the Son of God, Saviour of the world! My best friend! I have felt Him move in my life and the lives of those I love! 

Oh, how I love you, Jesus! Thank you for always being there, working inside me and through me! You are my guiding light, my heart's delight and my protector! 

I am Yours forever!

Amen