Surrendering to the Yoke of Jesus

Matthew 11:29

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.

In days of old, the yoke was used to pair field animals together.  The yoke enabled the pair to work together more efficiently.  In this passage, Jesus invites us to join Him in His yoke. He then points out that He is gentle and lowly in heart.  Thus, He is telling us that He is a willing servant that welcomes us along side, where He will teach us about His demeanor and bring us rest.  How could we pass on such an offer from our Servant King?  How could we pass on the opportunity to learn from the only man who ever lived in perfection?  How could we pass on being paired side by side in all things with the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ?

And consider this...to make the offer even greater, Jesus places no limits on the time He will allow us to come along side of Him.  Nor does He place any limits on the burdens that He would share with us.  His invitation to be at His side is available 24-7.  He is always along side us to bring us comfort when we are under the greatest level of stress or experiencing pain at the limits of our ability to endure.  Truly He offers us the endless joy that He shares with the Father.  When we surrender to the yoke of Our Lord, the joy of the Lord is our strength when we would have none otherwise. When we take up His yoke, we take on His meekness, His humility, His lowliness and, most of all, His complete subjection to His Father.

Let us free ourselves from being yoked to anything of this earth.  Let us humble ourselves and seek to be yoked to Our Servant King.  Let us join Our Savior in His complete submission to His Father.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing all that we need to get through our troubles.  We rejoice in knowing that we can find joy in the heaviest of burdens when we accept the yoke that is offered by Your Son, Jesus.  We pray that You teach us how to be lowly in heart so that we readily accept our place in the yoke. We ask all these things in the name of Our Comforter who rescues those who are crushed in spirit, Jesus Christ.