My Yoke is Easy

By John Weaver

November 1, 2022

Is the Christian life easy? Or is it hard? 

It is tragic how many people believe that it is hard to live the Christian life.

Jesus said these famous words, “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” (Matthew 11:28-30).

If we meet the conditions here, there is no way that we can say that the Christian life is hard.  

Paul was persecuted, beaten, and left for dead one time, but he called it “a light affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17). How could he?

The conditions here are simple: we must come to Him. We must take His yoke upon us, and we must learn from Him. Then, and only then, does the Christian life become easy.  

Jesus came to give us peace and rest. Rest in Him. Being a disciple of Jesus and learning from Him will give us rest  and peace beyond understanding.  

Yet many are trying and trying to keep enough rules and ordinances to please a hard-to-please God, all to no avail.  

My friend, stop trying to be a Christian and become a disciple of Jesus. Rather than trying to please God by your efforts, rest in the finished work of the cross. 

Take His yoke upon you. When we tame a wild and unruly young horse, we team it with a older seasoned one: one who had learned to take one step at a time. The young horse will lunge and wear himself out, prancing about until he learns that by walking in step with the other horse, life will become easy. Trying to pull everything by himself is tiring, but working as a team is way easier. Learn this from him.  

There are afflictions in our life. Some are much harder than others, but I can not imagine going through them without being yoked with Jesus. Don’t be satisfied with giving Jesus your heart. Give Him your all. And don’t go through life with a false hope that because you repeated a prayer, or joined a church, or were baptized, etc., that you now have a ticket to heaven.  

We believe, then we repent (turn around and go a different direction), and then we become one with the One who saved us. Then, as we have received Him, so we walk with Him (Colossians 2:6).  

Paul could call persecution “light affliction” because he had found rest - rest for his soul and for his spirit. Yes, our bodies get weary and they wear out, but if we have found  rest in our soul and spirit, then the life of a believer becomes easy - as long as we keep our focus on the One who gives us that peace and rest.  Amen!

 

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