November 22 - The Yoke’s On Me!

 Read today’s texts first: Matthew 11-13

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Jesus is asking us to come under His yoke,
not the other way around.  

I started the day encouraged again by the passage in Matthew 11:28-30.  I’m told two oxen yoked together can pull, not twice, but four times what one can pull – a perfect example of synergy.  The effect together is far greater than the total of the parts by themselves.  As I looked back on my journal of this day a few years ago, I discovered it was the day I took my Spiritual Formation students to Crescent Beach and I learned what sharing my yoke with Jesus really meant.

When I sat on a massive rock perched on the edge of the crashing waves overlooking the expanse of the Pacific Ocean, I was impressed by my God’s handiwork.  Knowing that the One who created all this was walking beside me and sharing my load was inspiring.  I decided that was a good time to open up about all of the ministry challenges I was currently facing.  Then I waited for God to give me the strategy for dealing with each one.

As I waited, I thought I would lower my sights from the broad horizon to the miniature world at my feet.  Walking from rock to rock, kicking them over in my search for marine life, I walked right into a dead seagull.  This was not the symbolism I was looking for.  As I took time to bury the rotting corpse, God finally spoke to me.  He reminded me of something in my own life that was rotten and needed to be buried with my old nature.  As I thought more about it, confessed it fully, and symbolically buried this habit with the dead bird, I felt the load lift.

I understood at that moment that Jesus was asking me to come under His yoke, not the other way around.  His priorities and values are different from mine.  If I take care of the things He expects of me, He’ll continue to miraculously provide for me and those under my care.  When you think life is going to be a day at the beach, watch out!  You never know what you’re going to run into.  God has a great sense of humour and I love it when His yoke is on me!