turnipg09

                In the previous chapter, we find that unhealed grief can hinder our faith and our diligence. By this point in this manual, some of you may be grieving right now. Maybe reading this has helped you see something that you have been ignoring for some time. Maybe you desperately want God to heal you.

                Wherever you are right now, God wants to heal you. He wants to re-establish the closeness of your relationship with Him. He wants to increase your faith. Isaiah 61:1 tells us that Jesus comes to "heal the brokenhearted".
              
                "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

                This scripture is a promise of Jesus to us all, especially those who are carrying the burdens of works, loss, greiving, or any other thing that may weigh us down. Within the promise, there is also an instruction: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me".

                Now a yoke was a device that allowed two animals (usually oxen) to be able to work together. It was common practice to take a younger, inexperienced animal and place it with an older, more experienced animal so that by working together the younger could learn how to work like the older.

                It is this same concept that Jesus is relating to. When we have burdens that we carry, it is like a yoke upon our necks. We continually "plow" day by day, carrying these things, and never really finding any relief. This can cause us to become weary, burdened, and even hopeless. Jesus says to those of us, "Come" and "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me". He invites us to be yoked up with Him, learn from Him, and "find rest for your souls".

                So, first of all, we must "Come" to Him. We must come before Him, seeking His face and also His help. But we must not stop there. The key to this scripture is the taking of the yoke of Jesus. What does He mean by this? What happens to our burdens? How can we find that rest?

                When we have the walls (previously mentioned) around our hearts and we do not lay them down, they will become yokes to us. Remember in the story of Jacob, how he clung onto Benjamin because Benjamin was the only living memory left of Rachel and Joseph? This clinging, or "wall", became a yoke of sorts unto Jacob, in that: No matter where Jacob went, no matter what he thought, no matter what he did, this "wall" went with him; and subsequently, so did Benjamin.

                But we find that in Genesis 43:14, Jacob finally lets go of Benjamin and says, "...if I am bereaved, I am bereaved."

                Jacob finally laid down his yoke, and took up another: Trust.

                When we have these walls in our lives, they will most certainly become yokes unto us in that: No matter where we go, no matter what we think, no matter what we do, this wall will go with us, influencing and even dominating our lives.