Pages

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Which yoke was that, again?

Today's gospel reading is a doozy --
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, 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.

Well, I'm surrounded by yokes. Which yoke is Jesus' yoke? There are a couple of good ways to answer that question:

1) It's the yoke he tells me about, revealing it either through direct revelation or through Scripture.
2) Even better, it's the yoke that I see him already shouldering. It's like trying to deduce which is my friend's car -- it's the car where I see him sitting behind the wheel.

But how do I avoid the seduction of taking on yokes that aren't His? There are lots of good yokes out there, things that are good and beneficial to do. But it's important for me to stay away from yokes that are assigned to someone else (ah, the pride of supposing that everything is up to me). It's also important to steer clear of yokes that God wants to shoulder on His own. Again, I fall into believing that if I see a need, it's up to me to fill it, even if it's something that only God can do.

Easy to say. How do I know, in this "more is better" culture, what to stay away from so I have the resources to do what God is really sending my way?

1 comments:

GG said...

hey mum. this isn't a deep insight, but i've been trying to see Jesus in light of the Jewish tradition lately (I think we overlook this SO much in the modern Western Church)... and it has been revealed to me that Jesus is our Rabbi. And Rabbis have yokes. A yoke is a teaching regimen basically... And you chose the Rabbi you wanted to be more like and to follow by knowing how hard and difficult their yoke would be... So taking this in that context helps me understand this verse in a new light. Not that I'm going to explicate it right here and now... but it's on my mind.

 

Followers

Sample Text

We are grateful ladies with a point of view and a sense of humor. Like-hearted people are welcome. Others, too.

For a glimpse at our lighter side, hop over to In Dwelling.

E-mail us.

Sample text

"There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know."

Pres. Barack Obama, Feb 5, 2009