Whose Yoke Have You Taken On?

Matthew 11:28-30

Don't the words of Jesus just refresh your soul? "Come to me, all who are weary and carry heavy burdens, I will give you rest! Take my yoke upon you, let me teach you, I am humble and gentle, I will give you rest for your soul, my yoke fits perfectly and my burden is light."

As I have listened to and observed many christian women today I don't come away with a sense of rest, humbleness or gentleness. What I do come away with is a sense of weariness, heaviness, burden and unrest. I am including myself here. I have been troubled about this over the past few months and been in His word looking for the why? The word simplicity has jumped out at me, through devotions, conversations, during prayer and in Jesus' very own words.

Why are we weary and carrying heavy burdens? Why are our lives not offering the world something different? While we were yoked with Christ at salvation and began our walk in freedom, with the faith of a child, trusting our Heavenly Father to make us fruitful; somewhere along the way we have taken on the yoke of another. We have taken on the yokes of religion, regulation, and rules. We have taken on the yoke of this world's philosophy, ideologies, and theologies. We have taken on the yoke of our christian friends, we have taken on the yoke of service out of duty not devotion, we think we must be involved in every "good" ministry our church offers or we are somehow not being what we need to be for Christ.

Most of us falsely believe that "ministry" happens within the four walls of our local churches. If you go back to the scriptures and look at how Jesus ministered, most of his ministry was done outside the walls of the temple. The local churches we attend are supposed to be the place where we come together in corporate worship of our Savior, join our hearts in prayer, hear God's word, observe the Lord's supper and fellowship. A place to be equipped so we will then be prepared to go outside the walls of our churches and minister in our world.

In our earnest efforts to make Christ known we have put Him in a box of our own making. We have become a people who depend on the programs and tools of our own design more than the simple word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through His people to reach a lost and dying world. Don't get me wrong, we need teachers and preachers, we need to disciple others in the word, the tools that have been developed over the years to help us dig deeper in God's word are great, but they are just a "tool". Sometimes, we become a slave to the tools we have created. We have bought into the lie that bible study, prayer and our relationship with Jesus is a formula. We have tried so hard to understand who God is and how it is we are supposed to relate to Him, we have made what is supposed to be a joy and simple into something complicated and hard. In the process of trying to do it "all right", I am afraid we have forgotten how to rest, trust and yoke with Christ.


We can never "improve" on the Word of God, and nothing is more powerful than the testimony of those who have been transformed by the saving grace of Jesus Christ!
We live in a day of the "Mega church" mentality. Ministry has taken on a whole new feel, flavor and flow. Every thing is pre-programmed and pre-packaged in attractive ways. The problem is, our lives are supposed to be the "package" that attracts unbelievers to our Savior. Unfortunately for most of us, when the lost world looks at us they see overcommitted, overworked, overwhelmed and overly intense people.

At the risk of sounding like a rebel, I say, let's throw off the yokes of slavery, sin and society and embrace the yoke of Christ where we are called to walk in faith, freedom and fruitfulness!

So, whose yoke have you taken on?

About Renee Peebles:

Renee is passionate about her relationship with Christ, her family and homeschooling. She enjoys writing devotions and articles on homeschooling, family and God's Word.  Her desire is for every woman to know her value and worth in Christ Jesus and begin to walk in His truth.

Visit Renee at wherethegrassisgreener-renee.blogspot.com.