Have you ever wondered what Jesus Christ meant by ‘my yoke is easy’?
“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.” – Matthew 11:28-30
I did some research and I found out a ‘yoke’ is a heavy wooden piece, it is used between a pair of animals such as oxen (kinda like cows). The yoke enables the animals to pull ploughs or loads in carts.
In the original biblical context, it is believed that it was said for the Pharisee’s who made loads of laws and regulations about how to be righteous, but so much so that people just constantly felt full of shame and that they were never good enough. So Jesus was coming to give them rest from this yoke of legalism and pressure, and instead tell them the good news that His ‘yoke’ is one of repentance and faith and in Him they will find rest for their souls instead of trying to ‘earn’ their way to heaven by being super-good and righteous!
In my research I found out there are different types of yoke (head yokes, neck yokes…egg yokes – just kidding!) As people, we may have different yokes weighing us down. Maybe you have some big coursework deadlines coming up, issues with money, problems in your family, or some other pressures. But whatever the ‘yokes’ may be, Jesus says when you come to him He can give you rest and he can make the heavy yokes easy.
Meaning, through Jesus Christ you can receive the strength, power, and wisdom to overcome the difficulties in life!
You may still have to carry the yoke (sorry, no excuses to not do your coursework!) but in the process, you can “cast your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” – 1 Peter 5:7 – and you will be able to get through it because in Philippians 4:13 it says you can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!
“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God I have put my trust. I will not fear.” – Psalm 56:3-4
When David wrote this psalm, he was very fearful after he fleeing from Saul but he knew he had to put his trust in God. So remember today that whatever your ‘yoke’ may be, you don’t have to deal with it in your own strength. Jesus wants to give you peace and rest, so bring it to Him!
