Have you ever suffered from “green eye” ? It’s a pretty common ailment, especially in our culture of American Idol and the various other “talent” shows that have sprung up and virtually spawned a cult following. It comes on when you start looking at somebody else’s ability and wish you could be just like that. Everybody wants to have that “voice” or that “look” or those dance moves. It has basically driven many, whose talents may lie elsewhere, to expose themselves to public ridicule and humiliation in trying to emulate another’s gift. But, come on, we’re all subject to that temptation, aren’t we? How often have we worn ourselves out just trying to be like somebody else? If only we really understood God’s real purpose for us as individuals. He never intended for humans to be mass-produced, cookie-cutter duplicates with identical talents and gifts. Why else would He have made every single human with a different set of fingerprints? I think God has a more ingenious talent search program that really spotlights the wonderful and unique gifts He gives each of us individually. It does require something from us, however. Matthew 11:28-30 says,
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (NKJV).
There are several times in God’s word where the walk of a Christian is likened to yoked oxen. In this particular passage, the focus seems to be on the yoke itself. Jesus was a carpenter by trade, and in His day, one of the mainstays of the carpentry business was making the wooden yokes farmers used for their oxen to plow and do other heavy labor. When a yoke was built, it was specifically fitted to the oxen for which it was made, much like a tailor would custom-fit a suit, or a cobbler a pair of shoes. It was made to balance and equalize the load the ox must pull without causing excessive strain or rubbing raw places; fitted so that the oxen could be steered and so that they could work longer and more efficiently without tiring too quickly.1
In verse 30, He tells us, “My yoke is easy.” The word “easy” in this instance does not mean simple, or not involving work, effort or sacrifice. It means fit for use or well suited to him for whom it was specifically made. What made the biggest impression on me is the fact that God has fitted me with a specific yoke to do the work he has ordained for me. He doesn’t want me to go around wishing for someone else’s yoke. He wants me to understand that for me, my yoke is easy, or fitted to me, so that I can do my work more efficiently and without tiring myself out unnecessarily. When I spend my efforts trying to emulate someone else, or do something I don’t have the talent or ability for, I am trying to wear another’s yoke, one which is not suited to me. And what happens? I become overburdened, weary, heavy-laden. Christ is telling me here that He wants me to focus on Him, get my eyes off of people I wish I could be like, and get in the yoke with Him. Verse 29 says I am to take His yoke upon myself; it also says “learn of Me for I am gentle and lowly in heart.” He wants me to emulate Him, His gentleness, His humility. In doing so He promises I will find rest. Interestingly, “rest” here doesn’t mean a cessation from work, but a refreshing in spirit. Vine’s Expository expresses this beautifully: “Christ’s rest is not a rest from work, but in work, ‘not the rest of inactivity but of the harmonious working of all the faculties and affections – of will, heart, imagination, conscience – because each has found in God the ideal sphere for its satisfaction and development.’”2
So, once I take upon myself Jesus’ yoke and begin to imitate Him, He then allows my work – that which I have been called to do and given the ability or talent for – to begin to blossom and develop in such a way as to actually bring a refreshing to my spirit as I labor! Furthermore, I begin to find my “niche”, the place where I can develop and contribute my own unique gifts, and God unfolds to me my hidden abilities I never knew I had. There is no need for me to wear myself out trying to be what I am not, because God made me uniquely me. No one else is exactly like me, with the gifts and abilities I possess, and He never intended for me to waste my energies in straining to do something for which I am not suited. Are you ready to get in the yoke?
1 Adapted: Creation Therapy, R.G. Arno Ph.D. & P.J. Arno Ph.D., © 1993
2 Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words; quoting J. Patrick, Hastings Bible Dict.
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