Jeremiah 31:18 - Would you consider yourself as "a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke"? Are you at times unruly and unmanageable, like an untaught calf or an unbroken and untoward steer?

 

Isaiah 51:20 - How about like "a wild bull in a net"? It was very common in the East for a hunter to capture wild goats using a net. Does God have to slow you down or stop you in your selfish pursuits by throwing His net over you? Do you find yourself fretting, raging, struggling, and pulling to deliver yourself from your circumstances, only to find that the more you struggle, the more entangled you get? Are you simply making your condition worse by your passions and discontents?

 

Lamentations 3:27 - The Scriptures tell us that "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." In other words, it is a good thing - a benefit - for a person to have early habits, discipline, and wholesome restraints on his passions and desires. Bearing a yoke is a good thing. Discipline in one's life is a good thing. Restraints on one's life are a good thing.

 

When Jesus called us to become His disciples and followers at the moment of salvation, He called us to bear His yoke -

 

Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.   Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."  

 

The yoke is taken from the use of oxen. It refers to the neck harness worn by the bullocks who drew in wagons, carts, or a plow. It represents being in service for another or laboring for someone. More specifically, it represents our coming under Christ's conduct and government. It represents our cheerful submission, service, and utmost obedience to all of His commands.

 

Paradoxically, being under the yoke brings relief from weariness, tiredness, and exhaustion due to the toils, burdens, and griefs of this life. When one is yoked with Christ, he can surely say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." 

 

Besides Great Strength, being conformed to the Word and to the Spirit brings great rest to the soul as well as freedom and liberty -

Matthew 11:29 - "Take My yoke upon you...ye shall find rest unto your souls." 

John 8:32 - "And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."

2 Corinthians 3:17 - "...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

 

 

In order to further understand this principle, we only need to ask ourselves - What does the Holy Spirit do in a believer's life?

 

Romans 8:13 tells us that He mortifies or puts to death the fleshly deeds of the body. He wars against the flesh. He keeps the yoke of Christ in tact in every believer's walk.

 

A yoke, restraints, discipline, endurance, suffering, and even death to Self - this is what we accept when we are Born Again. We enter into a relationship with the Lord Jesus where we are no longer our own. We are resigned to please God and to do His Will in all matters.

 

Luke 22:42 - Our conversation becomes filled with phrases and statements like "Not my Will, but Thine, be done."

Psalm 40:8 - "I delight to do Thy Will, O my God."

John 4:34 - "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work"

John 5:30 - "I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me."

Hebrews 10:9 - "Lo, I come to do Thy Will, O God..."

Acts 18:21 - "...but I will return again unto you, if God will..."

Romans 1:10 - "...if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you." 

Romans 15:32 - "That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God..."

1 Corinthians 4:19 - "But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will..."

Hebrews 6:3 - "And this will we do, if God permit."

James 4:15 - "...If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

 

A believer who is bearing the yoke of Christ is totally submitted to Divine Providence. The end of all of his ardent desires and the object of all of his prayers is that the Will of God be done. It is by God's great power and permission and under His guidance that all things are accomplished. Being under the yoke brings sweet liberty and lasting joy.

 

Many do not accept or understand this principle. They are still like the "bullock unaccustomed to the yoke" and like the "wild bull in the net." They are unruly and unmanageable and demanding of their own way and will. They do not delight to do God's Will. They are not interested in what God wills or permits. Resultantly, they find themselves miserable, weary, and exhausted in fighting a losing battle. Instead of rest for their souls, God sends them leanness.

 

The Christian walk is a yoke-bearing walk. There is no getting around it. It is a walk filled with restraints, disciplines, and controls. It is a walk of Death to Self and denial of one's way and will. Yet, the yoke does not steal blessed rest from the soul; it supplies it. It does not bind; it liberates.

 

In closing, read the following excerpt from the Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations -

 

"You have watched a kite fly in the wind. Would you say the string that holds it is burdensome and is a heavy yoke? No, it is there to control the kite. The kite will not fly unless it is in partnership with the string. The string and the kite are yoked together. You cannot cut the string and expect the kite to soar right up into the heavens. When the restrictive yoke of the string is cut, the kite will crash to the ground. So the yoke that the Lord Jesus gives is not burdensome. He walks alongside and helps us carry that burden. When we accept the invitation to walk along with the Lord Jesus Christ, we receive so much consolation and strong hope that the yoke seems easy and light." (End of quote)

 

"When the restrictive yoke of the string is cut, the kite will crash to the ground." So it is in the Christian walk. Trouble and even disaster awaits all those who refuse to take Christ's yoke and walk hand-in-hand with the Lord Jesus.

 

What will it be -

 

or a soaring "kite...in partnership with the string"?

 

You decide.

       

Matthew 11:30 - Remember the Lord Jesus said - "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." 

 

Copyright 2002 by Connie Giordano