A while back, I wrote the following devotion for a booklet that Lutheran High School of Indpls recently published for their 50th anniversary. Being yoked with Jesus is a gift. ❤
28 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
Back on April 12, 1987, at 13 years old, I was confirmed at Trinity, Indianapolis. I remember much of the day - my new dress, my poofy red hair, my friends alongside me, Pastor Maas bestowing our confirmation verses upon us, my extended family gathering for a post-confirmation open house. . .aaand Matthew 11:30.
And for the next 25 years or so, that verse troubled me. As Pastor Maas confirmed each of us, he placed a stole upon our shoulders and recited Matthew 11:30. I vividly recall the stole being placed on me and hearing “My yoke is easy and my burden is light”. And as he put what I felt was a figurative yoke on my shoulders, a years-long struggle with that verse began for me. What on earth could that passage mean? In my mind, God’s yoke was not easy, and His burden was not light! In fact - quite the opposite! It’s actually incredibly hard to be a Christian in the world today, and that yoke and burden felt anything but light.
As my life continued, post-confirmation, I ran across this passage now and then and still felt confused by it. I often felt weighed down by my sins and shortcomings. My shoulders felt yoked all right -- by my own mistakes, regrets, and bad choices. Again, the yoke of trying to follow Christ did not feel easy or light.
Fast-forward 25ish years, and I ran across a devotion based on the writings of C.S. Lewis. Two of the lines jumped out at me and transformed how I’d been thinking of this passage for so long. The quote went something like this: “Carrying the yoke of Jesus is far easier than carrying the burden of our sins. Or, one might say, become yoked to Jesus and you will find that He is doing the heavy lifting.”
Immediately I pictured Jesus and me – yoked together as oxen would be – and everything changed. I could see me, feeble and struggling, heavy-laden with my sin and failures. But alongside me was Jesus – strong, capable, with eyes full of love. And suddenly the yoke was no longer overwhelming and oppressive. Being yoked with Jesus actually alleviates our heavy load. For His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
Dear Jesus, Help me to leave the burden of my sins at the foot of your cross. Amen.