My Daily Pause

When most people think of a yoke, they think of it as a tool of burden. Yokes help animals push plows and carriages. There are hot summer days and boiling sun associated with working around yokes.

Yokes actually make life easier. There are various ways yokes have been rigged for humans so they can carry enormous loads. Without a well-designed yoke, it would be impossible to carry enough provisions in a backpack to hike very many days at a time. Farmers can carry gallons and gallons of water for their livestock on a yoke.

When Jesus said to take his yoke from him and learn, (Matthew 11:29) he knew he was asking a lot of us. Being a Christian is not always an easy lifestyle. Like the yoke of a hiker’s backpack, or like the yoke of a farmer moving large buckets of water, the yoke that Jesus asked us to take helps us deal with so much more.

Jesus’ yoke makes us better at love. Better at kindness. Gentleness.

Jesus’ yoke makes us strong enough to deal with life’s pain. Stronger to defend God’s word. Courageous.

We weren’t promised an easy life – but he gives us the tools to cope with anything.

Galatians 6:1-5 is a bit of Scripture that looks simple at one glance and then difficult at the next glance. Some have even said it contradicts itself.

These are the notes I have in the margin of my Bible that help me remember how to understand what is being said there:

1. Size up the situation
2. Pick up the fallen
3. Hold them up
4. Size up yourself

It is good to have a Spiritual family that can help us bear our burdens. It offers some amount of safety, accountability and direction. Ultimately though, we will have to account for ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:10).