The Easy Yoke?!

The race to Christmas has begun! Anyone tired yet? My prayer is that you enter this season energized by the presence of Jesus and the calling He has given you. Realistically though, I know many are tired. One of the elusive mysteries we face as pastors is how to live in that place where we work out of rest.

It didn’t take long for me to struggle with this in seminary. I was especially troubled by Matthew 11:28-30. As a full time seminary student with 2 part time jobs, one volunteer ministry, one wife and 2 kids in a one bedroom apartment, Jesus’ yoke did not often seem easy! Still, I knew God’s word had to be true and that something must be wrong in my heart and approach to life.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30

I foolishly thought the single focus of full time ministry would be way easier. Pretty dumb  right?! As it turns out I have had to continually revisit and deepen my alignment to the truths Jesus gave us in those precious verses. Here is some of what I have learned to encourage you at this hectic season begins.

Still, I knew God’s word had to be true and that something must be wrong in my heart and approach to life.

First, work is NOT the problem, but overwork is. An early conclusion I had to accept is that when I am overscheduled and overwhelmed, it is because I have taken on more work than Jesus has assigned. This could happen for different reasons. Some include: fleshy desires to please people, impatience to achieve, drivenness to prove my worth or misguided sense of importance & responsibility. I’ll leave that for another post. But the reality is that if my current yoke is not easy or light than I may well have taken on other yokes AND/ OR I am working out of sync with His. First steps here might be asking Jesus what I am carrying that He did not ask me to take on. Then release it as quickly as possible!

A second problem is disconnected work. Yoke implies work. It is worn when it is time to work. But it is meant to make the work both easier and more effective. It is made so by a synergistic attachment to another, in this case Jesus! Our attachment to Jesus is the key to the whole thing. In fact, drifting from dependence on Jesus exponentially increases the difficulty of our work. In John 15 Jesus says without Him our work is impossible! Ps 127 reminds us that unless God works, our work doesn’t work! In Matthew 11:28ff. Jesus invites us to take His yoke on us. When we are intentionally yoked to Jesus, His power and guidance are in play to make the work work! We must make it a priority to live in dependent connection to Jesus and quickly responsive to His leadership.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5  

Another problem is misguided and ill-equipped work. Jesus calls us to learn from Him. Following means apprenticing, receiving instruction and practicing what we learn. Highly trained craftsmen have greater intentionality and less stress in their work through their years of practiced learning. Too often we mistake learning ABOUT Jesus for learning FROM Jesus. They are not the same. Obedient application of His word teaches us how to embrace His calling on our lives. Being an apprentice means the master determines the pace & direction of our work! When I set my own pace or direction, the easiness of His yoke becomes heavy and hard!

When we are intentionally yoked to Jesus, His power and guidance are in play to make the work work!

Jesus words sound so appealing and simple! All of us long for His rest and wonder at what an easy yoke with a light burden feels like. With each cycle of learning Jesus has shown me that it is real and true. Sadly I am still prone to pull at a different pace or direction. Over time, I have learned to live in Matthew 11:28ff. more deeply, more often and for longer periods of time. I pray that is your experience as well!

Let’s covenant this season to embrace Jesus’ yoke and His alone. Let’s model something different for our churches. Let the heart renewal and revival we long for begin not just in the work we embrace but in the way we go about it!

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Ps 127:1-2