Matthew11:28-30 Unequally Yoked
“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (NLT).
The double looped contraption hanging on the wall is a yoke for oxen. We saw it at a farm in Iowa where they demonstrate farming methods from the past several hundred years. In fact, we saw a yoke of oxen walking around the grounds. They did everything together. If one walked, they both walked, and if one wanted to eat, they both ate. It is interesting to know that in every yoke of oxen, one is dominant and the other generally follows his lead. Farmers who use oxen usually yoke together an experienced ox with a younger ox that is subservient. In a short period of time, they work together as a strong team. They have learned to work together for the better of both of them.
In the Scripture above Jesus invites us to become yoked with Him. Being omnipotent and omniscient, He is obviously the leading member of the team. We know that because He asks us to “take my yoke upon you.” He says He will teach us and give us rest. He states that He is “humble and gentle at heart.” Finally, He says, “For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” As the omnipotent member of the team, he will take the larger of the burden, and as the omniscient member of the team, he will direct us in the best way to go. Because He is humble and gentle at heart, He will not demand that we follow Him exactly, but He will show us the way that is best, and then allow us to actually choose whether to stay yoked with Him or not. As time goes on, and we learn from Him, we will follow His lead. One important difference between this yoke and the yoke used by oxen is that there is no outsider who decides when our yoke with Him is broken. Jesus gives us the opportunity to leave His yoke at any point. He is saddened if we do leave the yoke, and He always gives us the opportunity to rejoin His yoke at any time in the future. Why would I not want to partner with the creator of the universe, who is both omnipotent and omniscient? Being yoked with Him means that I will always have the best direction from the strongest. Sign me up!