Jesus not only invites
us to come to Him, but He also tells us to “take His yoke upon us so that we
may learn of Him.” (Matthew 11:29)
Our first act of
becoming a complete disciple of Jesus Christ is to “deny ourselves and take
up His cross.” (Mark 8:34) This means to so surrender our will to the Lord
Jesus that we obey Him and follow Him in everything. It means to say no to
ourselves. Saying no to our own desires, ambitions, and pleasures. It isn’t
easy is it? To say no to self is never easy. It is contrary to our very nature.
We all want our own way.
A former president of
Indonesia once said, “I love my country, I love women, but most of all I
love myself.” You might insert something else in the place of his first two
loves, but if you are honest you probably would have to say along with him, “most
of all I love myself.” Seriously, we can choose to deny ourselves or we can
choose to defy ourselves. We can become our own gods. We can govern our own
lives. Or we can abdicate the thrones of our lives and let Jesus be Lord. If we
are going to be disciples of Jesus, we must begin by denying ourselves.
HIS YOKE - What does it mean to take Christ’s yoke upon us? The
picture of a yoke is that of a harness used over the necks of two animals to
train them how to pull together to be successful. The yoke illustrates
submission. Submission to Christ’s yoke is never easy because it costs the
yielding up of your will to Christ’s will. It is only as we submit to Christ,
and learn of Christ that we receive from Christ the rest that He promises in
Matthew 11:29. “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.” Verse 30 “For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus did not say that
His yoke is heavy. It only becomes heavy when we resist it. It is when we, like
Saul of Tarsus, kick against the goads and resist submitting to God’s way that
our walk with God becomes a toil and labor.
How does the yoke of
Christ work? The more fully committed we are to follow Christ, the more we will
have rest and peace. Peace and rest are by-products of unreserved surrender to
Jesus Christ. When we are pulling with Christ by submitting ourselves in
obedience, our burdens will be lightened and our joys and victories will be
complete. We are designed for obedience. We were created to do His will. When
we follow Him in obedience it brings refreshing renewal to our minds. (Romans
12:1, 2)
