This Yoke's for You

This Yoke's for You!

We don't know a whole lot about yokes in our culture. Most of us have probably never seen one. After reflecting on Jesus' invitation to come to Him and take His yoke (Matthew 11:28-30), I decided to do some reading about yokes, and I learned a lot.One thing that I discovered is that any good oxen in Jesus' day were better dressed than I'll ever be.

I buy my suits off the rack at J.C. Penney. The oxen of Jesus' time wore custom-made yokes. They were perfectly fitted to each yoke of oxen by the yoke maker. One-size-fits-all was unacceptable.The yoke had to fit perfectly. Without the perfect fit, the oxen faced injury or infection. They could injure themselves pulling heavy loads of the yoke didn't fit. Or, the misfit yoke could rub the oxen's skin and cause abrasions or cuts that could get infected. Custom-fit was the only way to go.Jesus' hearers knew all that. They could have surmised that Jesus' call to the yoke implied a good fit. When He said to them My yoke is easy, they knew exactly what that meant. When they got in the yoke with Him, it would fit perfectly.

So it is for you and me. Jesus, all-knowing, all-powerful and every-where present, fits His yoke for you and me to the exact measurements He knows we need. It won't bind on us, and it won't hurt us. The yoke He offers us will hold us in His presence and never feel like a burden. Rather, we'll know perfect comfort for the journey with Jesus. Your yoke might well not fit me. Mine probably wouldn't fit you. Each of us will discover the pleasure of a custom fit!We can always trust Jesus to do what is best for us. We know His character and love well enough to know that He'll never call us to anything less than what is best for us. The yoke will always fit. When Jesus says take My yoke, He's saying this yoke's for you! (Today's Freedom Fighter was submitted by Pastor John Strain, First Baptist Toms River)

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT ...: The supreme test of goodness is not in the greater but in the smallerincidents of our character and practice; not what we are when standing in the searchlight of public scrutiny, but when we reach the firelight flicker of our homes; not what we are when some clarion-call ringsthrough the air, summoning us to fight for life and liberty, but our attitude when we are called to sentry-duty in the grey morning, when the watch-fire is burning low. It is impossible to be our best at the supreme moment if character is corroded and eaten into by daily inconsistency, unfaithfulness, and besetting sin. Frederick Brotherton ( F. B. ) Meyer