His Yoke

I was cleaning my house for Bible study, feeling like a failure at housekeeping and wondering why the burden of being a good Christian had grown so heavy over the past few years.  Looking around at the piles of dirty clothes, dishes in the sink, cobwebs in the corner and sticky spots on the floor, I felt overwhelmed by it all.  I sat down on the couch, exhausted from vacuuming, leaving the mopping and dusting for later.  I knew in my heart that a clean house wasn’t really a commandment from heaven, but it seemed like I’d be a bad Christian woman if I couldn’t keep up with my own house.  My shoulders sagged and I eventually gave in to the feeling that I wouldn’t ever measure up, so why trying?

Ever feel that way? (Maybe not about keeping your house clean, but just about trying to be who you think a good Christian ought to be?)
Remember when Jesus told his disciples;

“Are you tired?  Worn out? Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

(Eugene Peterson’s Message version of Matthew 11:28 where Jesus tells us His yoke is easy and His burden is light.)

I was studying this verse recently and it occurred to me that I never really thought about what Jesus’ yoke was.  I learned from Keri Wyatt Kent that the rabbis in Jesus’ time used to have their own yokes, their own ways of following the law.  Each rabbi of consequence had a “yoke,” or their own authoritative view of how it looked to honor God.  Jesus said HIS yoke was easy.

So, if Jesus’ way is easy, why does it seem so hard sometimes?  That day when I was laden down with house cleaning guilt, I knew things weren’t right in my heart, but I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  Was it me?  Did I just need to try harder to do all the right things so I could look like a good Christian?

And then it hit me!  Why did the rabbis use the word yoke for their rules for living?  Wearing a yoke is a matter of surrendering and submitting to a path set before you.  Unlike animals, we get to choose which yoke to carry – should it be heavily laden with lists of things to do or should it be something else?

Honestly, I don’t even think it’s the lists that make that load heavy, it’s the guilt.  No matter how hard I try, I’ll always fail somewhere when I have a list of do’s and don’t's to follow.  It’s that weighty burden of sin and guilt that Jesus removed from our shoulders when He came.  His yoke is a yoke of grace.  Instead of submitting myself to someone else’s idea of what a good Christian ought to be, I surrender myself to Jesus’ life of grace.  It’s freeing to have that burden lifted off my shoulders and know that my slate has been washed clean and I don’t have to live under guilt anymore.

It’s easy to live motivated by love and grace; it’s easy to live under forgiveness and freedom.  Are you wondering why cleaning was such a heavy burden for me?  It was because I did it to impress my friends, not because I loved my family.  I did it so I wouldn’t feel guilty or look like a bad wife, instead of doing it for the ones I loved.

1 John 5:3 explains it all for me:
This is love for God:  to obey His commands.
And His commands are not burdensome

I use that to check myself sometimes.  If I’m feeling burdened down, it’s NOT because of something Jesus asked me to do.  He promises that He won’t burden me down.  So, my burden must be from somewhere else:  Someone’s opinion of me, someone else’s expectations, or even my own expectation of myself.

Are you feeling burdened down lately?  What’s the source of that?  How would Jesus’ yoke be lighter and easier for you today?

By His grace and love,

Heather Cox

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