First. You Must Take His Yoke.
Jesus invites us to share His yoke and find rest to our soul by trusting in His power and presence in our lives.
F.B. Meyer emphasizes that while it may seem counterintuitive for weary souls to find rest by taking on a yoke, Jesus invites us to share in His yoke, which He carries alongside us. This yoke is not a burden but a partnership, where Jesus, as our yokefellow, lightens our load and guides us through life's challenges. By accepting His invitation, we can find true rest for our souls as we work together with Him in the journey of life. Meyer illustrates this with the imagery of oxen working together in the fields, highlighting the importance of keeping in step with Jesus.
Text
Now, at first sight it appears ridiculous that those who labor and are heavy laden should find rest by having the imposition of a new yoke or burden, however light. He says: "My yoke is easy, My burden is light." But then, even an easy yoke with a light burden imposed on laboring and weary souls would surely not give them rest. How can it be? Ah, listen! It is not a yoke that Jesus imposes, but it is the yoke that He Himself carried, and a yoke by the very nature of it includes two.
He says then, standing beneath a yoke--to you, weary soul:
"Come hither and share My yoke with me, and we will pull the plow together through the long furrow of life."
I have been told that there are farms in the West so large that you may start a furrow in the morning, and pursue it all day, and only finish it at night, returning the next day. Whether that be true or not I am not here to say, but it will serve my purpose. One day when I was at Northfield, Mr. Moody took me to Mount Hermon school.
He had a yoke of beautiful white oxen, and he told me that when one of these oxen was being yoked in, if the other happened to be on the far side of the farmstead it would come trotting up and stand beside the other until it was yoked in also. Jesus stands to-day with the yoke upon His shoulder, and He calls to each one, and says:
"Come and share My yoke, and let us plow together the long furrow of your life. I will be a true yokefellow to you. The burden shall be on Me. Only keep step with Me, and you shall find rest to your soul."
Sermon Outline
- I. The Impossibility of Rest Without a Yoke
- A. The burden of sin and the weight of the world
- B. The need for a new yoke, one that is easy and light
- II. The Nature of Jesus' Yoke
- A. It is not a new yoke, but the yoke He Himself carried
- B. It is a yoke that includes two, Jesus and the believer
- III. The Invitation to Share the Yoke
- A. Jesus stands with the yoke upon His shoulder, calling to each one
- B. He invites us to share the yoke and plow together
- IV. The Promise of Rest
- A. The burden shall be on Jesus, not the believer
- B. We are to keep step with Jesus and find rest to our soul
Key Quotes
“My yoke is easy, My burden is light.” — F.B. Meyer
“Come hither and share My yoke with me, and we will pull the plow together through the long furrow of life.” — F.B. Meyer
“The burden shall be on Me. Only keep step with Me, and you shall find rest to your soul.” — F.B. Meyer
Application Points
- We can experience the rest that Jesus offers by sharing His yoke and keeping step with Him.
- The burden of sin and the weight of the world can be lifted when we trust in Jesus and His easy yoke.
- We are to follow Jesus and trust in Him, allowing Him to carry the burden and bring rest to our soul.