A while ago, my youth pastor explained the following passage:
“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
-Matthew 11:30
[And just to clarify: this is Jesus talking here.]
Say what?!
Since when is Christianity easy?! This Jesus-stuff is hard, so what is He talking about?
My youth pastor shared a story of a tour he was taking. They passed a field where a behemoth-sized ox was yoked with a much younger ox. The tour guide explained that a younger oxen would be yoked to an older one, so the more experienced one could guide the younger. The older one was actually doing most of the work. Even though the younger ox would jerk and tug, the older one would keep him on track.
Jesus has already fought our battles; He’s overcome the world. We’ve accepted His yoke, and now He’s doing most of the work. All we have to do is not resist. His yoke is supposed to be easy, but we make it hard, because we try to pull our burden in our own strength. We try to do it our way, and it’s exhausting.
After I’ve given a decision over to God, I feel so relieved. Of course, I still have to fight against myself and the impulse to try to figure things out in my own strength, but during the moments when I give things to God, I feel such a strong sense of peace.
With this said, impulses and old habits don’t die easily. I’ve been learning to do things God’s way for my entire life, and I still don’t have it down. All we have to do it to let God do the fighting for us. Of course, it probably still won’t be easy, but it’s so much easier than trying to do things in our own strength.
Have you ever found Jesus’s yoke to be easy?