February 4 I Saturday

Exodus 34-35

Matthew 22:23-46

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me....For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”     —Matthew 11:29-30

Whose yoke are we wearing? On Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 11:25-30, pastor and author Darrell Johnson states, “The question is not ‘will I wear a yoke?’ The question is ‘whose yoke will I wear?’ Everybody wears a yoke. There are no yokeless human beings. The question is never ‘will I be a disciple?’ The question is ‘whose disciple will I be?’… From all the spirits that I am pressured, whose will I yield to?” From all the influences around us, what guides and controls our life? Johnson goes on to say, “We are weary because we are wearing the wrong yoke.”

       In our fast-paced Western culture, there are all kinds of yokes. There is a yoke of busyness, a yoke of distraction, which can lead to an escapism that may even look good, but it is distracting us from the relationship that God has for us. The reality is, even after coming to Jesus and experiencing being yoked to Him, we can drift, put on other yokes and be lured away. Hence, we need to be mindful of continuing to nurture our relationship with Him. He is not asking us to be perfect; He is asking us to be present, to come to Him and to learn from Him. Being yoked with Jesus is not a one-time event in our lives or a destination that we arrive at. The circumstances of life can be difficult, but in the midst of the difficulty, are we going to Jesus, spending time with Him, learning from Him? 

       When I look at my own life and find myself weary or heavy laden, I realize that I have wandered from the relationship with Jesus, where He makes the Father known to me and slipped out of His yoke. Last year, I took a break during the summer and returned to find that the Executive Pastor was on medical leave and some of her responsibilities fell onto my plate. I started to feel the stress and the strain, and by the end of the day, I was a hot mess. I remember pulling into my driveway and thinking to myself, “Lord, how did this happen? How could I be this undone? How could I be this weary and heavy laden? I want to rest and learn from You. I want to be yoked to You.” In the tenderness of that quiet moment, I felt the Spirit say to me, “Brett, this is part of My invitation to come to Me—not when you have it all together, but when you are feeling that weariness.”

       If we find ourselves weary and heavy laden, it could be that He is inviting us to come to Him and experience His rest.

Prayer: Gracious Lord Jesus, it is so easy to get distracted, wearied and over-burdened. I thank You that Your invitation is to come to You and experience Your rest.