Yoked with Jesus Christ

Today in church we discussed being yoked together with Jesus Christ. This comes from the scripture in Matthew:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

So what does this mean? What is a yoke?

A yoke was used in olden times as a means of combining the strengths of two animals…many times oxen. It was a wooden brace that kept both animals in line and going in the same direction. As well it helped the animals to share the burden, and in fact by being yoked together they were able to pull a more heavy load than the sum of them could do individually.

As we yoke ourselves to Christ we are able to share our burdens with him–in fact he invites us to do so, and to carry a heavier load than we could by ourselves, while walking beside him in the same direction.

But a yoke doesn’t take away all of the work. We still have to do as much as we can, but we are never required to do more than we are able. Christ doesn’t take all of the work away from us as that would rob us of the ability to grow stronger.

If an ox just laid down and did nothing, it would be very difficult for the other ox, no matter how strong, to pull the load. So with us, if we think that we can just sit back and do nothing, it’s going to be hard for the Savior to pull us along. Not that he can’t–but it would deprive us of the experiences that we need if life.

Many times a younger ox would be paired with an older ox in order to maintain his focus and direction and to learn from him. It is the same with us – Christ asks us to learn from him and then we will find rest from our burdens.

Rest means we will find peace, strength, and solace as we turn to him and follow in his direction. Rest means he can make our burdens lighter than they would be on our own.

When we are yoked to and with the Savior, we can receive the cleansing, enabling, and additional powers of His Atonement in our lives.

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Let us lighten our load and find the rest that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings by yoking ourselves to him and relying on his strength and direction in our life.

The yoke of Christ is made to fit each one of us perfectly and it provides a balance between allowing Him to ease our burdens and providing us with the experiences we need to be more like Him.

Let us move together yoked with the Savior throughout our life and be strengthened by having Him as our companion and compass.