What It Looks Like to Come to Jesus

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you…” Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

A yoke was used to join two animals together when they were plowing a field. Once you were in the yoke, you couldn’t get out. So when Jesus invites you to take His yoke on you, He is inviting you into a binding relationship.

Some people want to walk with Jesus, but they want the freedom to leave when He takes a difficult path. There is no rest for your soul in that. Coming to Jesus means that you bind yourself to Christ. Where He goes, you go; where He leads, you follow.

Jesus’ yoke is exclusive because you cannot be bound to more than one person at the same time. That means you must detach yourself from other yokes. The problem for some of us is that we are already yoked.

Christ says, “Take my yoke upon you.”

“Sorry Lord, I’m already yoked to pleasure, or popularity, or success, or self.”

But Jesus says, “Break up those yokes and take my yoke upon you.” The purpose of the yoke is to deliver you from doing your own thing and missing the purpose for which God brought you into the world.

There will be times when you pull against the yoke and it hurts, but in the end, there will be no greater blessing than to go where He is going. When you see Christ on the last day, you will be so glad that you are yoked to Him.

Are there other yokes you need to detach yourself from?