Building the Yoke

I remember hearing Matthew 11v.30 when I was about five or six and being kind of grossed out. In it, Jesus states, "... for my yoke is easy and my burden light." Y-O-K-E. This should probably be explained well to little kids, who think that for some reason, Jesus is going to dump egg on them. The thought of heavenly golden yolks being dumped on me and made into some sort of supernatural omelet weirded me out.

Then came third grade and learning about oxen while playing the super-fun computer game "Oregon Trail." Towing my wagon across the continental United States and its western territories were oxen whose yokes would continually break, costing me numerous loads of imaginary dollars.

In eighth grade, as I really began to be fascinated by apologetics and how what I believed as a Christian stacked up against the religions of the world, I learned that, in Judaism, a rabbi would "place his yoke" upon his students. This really just meant that he would teach them his particular view and theology about God, the Jewish faith, and life in general.

In college, I learned about two muscle-oriented types of yoke: a "Farmer's Yoke" in Strongman Competitions and the fact that the connected muscles of the neck, trapezius, and upper lats are called the "yoke." 

You may be asking, "Why all this talk of yokes?"

In the midst of hardship, it is vital that we (Carrie and I) remember our teammates in this ongoing work with NEXT Worldwide. We're planting churches, seeing people come to know the Gospel and beginning to be discipled, witnessing countless students' worldviews changed and even seeing pastors come to see their congregants and what the Lord is doing around the world in a different light. But we're doing this together, with many of you. We are part of an incredible team that the Lord began putting together last January.

II Corinthians 6v.14 - "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers." We are yoked together with some incredible people. We are moving forward step by step, even when we're having to slog it out through difficult times. It is during these times and knowing this that we are still able to rejoice. Carrie and I know that we're not the only ones straining at the yoke, but we're blessed to know that there are so many others straining with us.

Nahum 1v.13 - "I will break his yoke from you and will burst his bonds apart." There is no yoke of this world that can hold back the tide of the Gospel moving forward. We experience this when we are saved (the yoke of sin and its fetters are completely broken), but also in the realization that we are part of such an incredible community, known as the Church.

Lamentations 3v.27 - "It is good for a man that he bear yoke in his youth." Although things can seem so burdensome for many of us fighting to move the Kingdom forward, this yoke is actually building us up. The Sovereign Lord has deemed a time for us to be strengthened and encouraged, even though it might be painful at the time. We build and we struggle in order that the Lord's glory may be seen in everything we do.

We constantly need to remember what types of yoke there are in our lives. The yoke of sin has been broken from around our necks. The yoke of team-work allows us to move forward together. The yoke of sanctification is heavy for a time, but allows us to grow.

"...my yoke is easy and my burden light." Although this may not always seem the case, we know that, in Christ, this is nothing but the truth. These things that we struggle with and feel so depressed and weighed-down by, are momentary. We will soon feel the sweet release of its breaking and the freedom of the strength that the Lord has grown in us.

Armor in the Tent

There are certain men, in my life, who are mentors to me without even really knowing it. These are men who I would drive hours just to have a cup of coffee with. Guys who I'd cut an hour out of anything other than being with my wife and daughter for. Men who I admire and want to be like and have a lot of influence over me. They are men whose lives I look at and measure how my life emulates and stacks up with. Do I carry the same aspects of character as these men? Biblical and modern life, relatives and friends, there are not very many of these men, but those who I admire in this way are so incredibly valuable to me. Gorden Cook is one of those men and dropped a lot of wisdom on me last week.

"And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent." (I Samuel 17v.54b)

David took the most prevalent proof of killing Goliath to the leaders of the nation. But, he took the armor and kept it, not as a sign for others to see, but rather as a reminder to himself of the battle he fought and how the Lord came through.

With everything that is going on in mine and Carrie's life, it feels like one battle after another. What Gorden did was reminded me of the real need to look back on those pieces of battle that we've taken from previous skirmishes and remember what the Lord has already done. Our great commander and general, our fortress and salvation leads us through the warfare of life. He always comes through... many of us need to remember the incredible ways that HE wins the battle and carries his children.

Fortis esto. Ardens esto. Moderatus esto.