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MATTHEW 11:30 “FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT.” (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASB, RSV, NIV)
Sure! Promise light burdens and an easy yoke. It sure doesn’t feel easy or light!
There are many verses in the Bible that, if taken merely at face value and compared to our daily experiences, might not seem to look like the way it happens to us. The temptation by so many might be that since the Bible says one thing and it is obvious that it never works out that way, the Bible must therefore be wrong. I would warn you to avoid thinking that way.
The Word of God will always give us absolute truth. The world will not. Media does everything it can to tell us their “slant” of truth to try to convince us to believe what they say. But many times, what we hear on television, the theaters and the internet is completely wrong. Do not be deceived.
We may have difficulty in discerning or even interpreting what the words as portrayed in the Scriptures are saying to us. There are definitely numerous differences, even in the Christian church, about what it is saying. Just look at all the different versions of the Bible. However, if studied, read through many times, even meditated upon after we have memorized it (unashamed plug), the Holy Spirit is always faithful to show us truths from the Word that may not come easily. This may be what Paul was telling Timothy in 2 Tim 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Now, one must admit that in many examples in history of the lives of Christians over the last 2,000 years, their lives were anything but light and easy. Ask the apostles who suffered severe persecution and gave their lives as early martyrs of the church. Ask many Christians who are suffering at the hands of persecution in many parts of the world even today. Chinese Christians are reported to consider themselves not worthy of leadership in the underground church if they have not been forced to serve prison time for their faith. So, what did Jesus mean by His yoke being easy?
Of course, as we have already discussed in previous chapters, His yoke is easy (or at least easier) because He promises to be in the yoke with us…He promises that we do not labor alone. There is a relative nature of our load being easier because He is carrying it too. His PRESENCE makes the load easier and the burden lighter. Let me suggest three other “P’s” that Jesus provides that make the load lighter.
The Lord promises to give us PRESENTS or gifts from above to help us along the way. Psalm 116:7 says, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul: for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” As we join the labor the Lord has given us in this life, we can stand on the promise that He will provide for us abundantly everything we need to do all that He asks. He is able to “do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Ephesians 3:20 We have the power of the King of the Universe working with us in our labors and He has all resources available and provides them to us to do the job. That certainly makes our yoke easier and our burdens lighter.
As we recognize that all our labor is directed and guided by Jesus, we can be assured of His PROVISION too. He prepares the way before us. Most times, it is after the Lord has provided every need for us that we realize He was preparing the way all along. Seldom though do we get that glimpse of His preparation for us well ahead of time, seeing how He worked all things together for our good. See Romans 8:28. Knowing that He is working all things for our good certainly makes the yoke easier, even if we don’t realize it.
Last, we probably need to remember His eternal PROMISE. We have the promise of Heaven that puts all our earthly struggles and trials into proper perspective. Read that section from Hebrews 4 again. “For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.”
Through all my struggles and trials of the past five years or so I have been reminded that these struggles pale in comparison to the glory that awaits us in heaven. I’m reminded that this short 70 or 80 years will be seen as nothing in comparison with eternity in heaven. That made it easier to sing at my sweet wife’s funeral, “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows will erase. So bravely run the race ‘til we see Christ.”
Brother and sister, remember the words in this passage. Memorize it and quote it every time it seems like life has just gotten too heavy to bear. It may seem like the yoke is anything but easy and the burdens are not light. But look to Him and see with spiritual eyes that He is there with you and providing everything you need to make it through. He is definitely good to us all the time.
Questions to ponder: What kind of distractions does the devil put in your way that prevent you from seeing the Lord’s presence and provision for you? How often does it seem like the burdens of life are too heavy to bear? Sometimes, just stopping all the insanity that seems to make life so unbearable and seeing with spiritual eyes His presence beside you can make the burden lighter. Is claiming many of the promise of the Lord and Scripture a great way to make the burden lighter?
Other Scriptures to study: 2 Corinthians 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Cor 4:1 “…though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” 1 Peter 4:12. James 1:2
 
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