“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”
Matthew 11:29, LSB
A yoke is not something that many of us would want to place upon ourselves in life. Farmers would never wish to place the yoke of their cattle, oxen, or horses and bear the weight of the loads that they carry for us, yet here Jesus is calling us to take upon ourselves His yoke. We are meant to learn from Him and grow in Him. There is great joy that is found in Christ, but it doesn’t come without pain. How many of us like to whine about our lives? When we face struggle and hardship, we cry out, sometimes against God. We may look at the lives of others in Christ and see the joy that they bear and think that everything is great in their lives, but grapes must first be pressed before the wine can come out. It is out of the pressing that our witness can shine through in the world as we leave the old skin of sin behind and step into the new life that comes as we are washed and renewed in Christ. The Holy Spirit presses out the spirit of the world so that we can pour out His spirit in our lives and on the world. In Christ, we find our rest and our peace because all our burdens rest upon Him.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.