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THE PENTATEUCH

GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---

NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION

--- THE GOSPELS

Chapter 6 Take My Yoke Upon You And Learn of Me (Matthew 11.29).

In ancient days when ploughing was done by two oxen dragging the plough behind them it was important that they worked together in unison. And so the farmer joined them together by a wooden yoke that went across their shoulders and kept them moving together in harmony with each other. Then the more experienced ox would take control and the other ox would work in oneness with it.

Imagine the old and well tried ox. He has learned what his purpose in life is and he is content to do it well. And his master brings the young, frisky youngster to the yoke, and it struggles and kicks and fights. But it is firmly held in the yoke and all it does is make life difficult for itself. Then the old ox turns and looks at the youngster with his big, gentle eyes, and they appear to say to him, ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for yourself.’

Here in Matthew 11.28-30 Jesus tells us that that is exactly what happens when we come to Him. We are yoked together with Him. We are made one with Him. From now on He leads the way, He will make the decisions. And He turns to us in love and gentleness and says precisely the same thing, ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’ And if we are truly His we will walk in step with Him and follow Him. And we will find peace within ourselves.

The illustration is not perfect, for no ox can be compared with the Saviour of the world, and one ox cannot take up his home inside the other. But the wonderful thing is that the One to Whom we are yoked not only does walk with us, but He does it with power and glory, and He also does come to live inside us. He comes to live within us. He makes us one with Himself (John 17.21). And thus He can live through us in all His resurrection power. And the yoke that binds us then is more powerful than any earthly yoke, for it binds us to the One Who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2.20). Thus do we walk with Jesus, step by step with Him, allowing Him the lead, and allowing Him to fulfil His will through us. He leads and day by day all we do is follow, knowing that He is with us every step of the way.

Once we begin to live like this we can take all our worries and continually put them on Him,casting all our care upon Him, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5.7). For who can worry when they are walking step by step with the Master of the Universe? Where He leads we will follow, and thus we will have no cause to fear anything, for He will be with us and His rod and His staff will guide us. ‘Behold,’ He says, ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the world’ (Matthew 28.20). How then can we fear? That would only be to insult Him.

But sometimes the younger ox will rebel. He will begin to struggle. And when he does so he will find that he kicks against the nails which are placed below the yoke on a board near ground level in order to prevent him kicking out. And the nails have been made to be painful so that the young ox will learn his lesson and stop kicking. That is why Jesus said to Paul when He called him, ‘It is hard for you to kick against the nails’ (Acts 9.5). Jesus had chosen Paul. He had already laid His hand on him and claimed him. He had taken him into His yoke. Thus Paul could find no peace until he was in harmony with Christ. He found that he was kicking against nails. And we too, if we rebel, will, if we are truly His, discover that we too are kicking against the nails. We can be sure then that our Father, because of His love for us, will make life very painful for us (Hebrews 12.6-11). For no backslider who is truly a Christian will ever find happiness in his heart again until he comes back into line with Christ. That is in the end the proof that we are really His after all. And if we find no nails we should beware. You cannot have been in the yoke without the nails. It may be proof that we have never been in the yoke after all (Hebrews 12.8).

But once we are back in line with Him, and when once more He holds the reins of our lives, what joy will flood our hearts. For we will know that all is right again and that this is the very purpose for which we were made.