Jesus shares terms and descriptions which the people in His day would fully understand and relate to. We are not a farming culture any longer. Our mechanical equipment rendered the yoke and oxen obsolete. They are still used in less developed countries just as they have been for centuries. Jesus offers to be tied to or bound to us as we go about our daily work and tasks. He offers to pull with us, side-by-side. He will even do the heavy work in order to give us a rest. That is what He does… if we will let Him and work closely with Him. We can all learn a LOT from Him!
Pass along this message by sharing the link to this verse with your family, friends, and co-workers for His kingdom. Ask if they have ever seen a pair of oxen or cattle sharing a yoke while working in the fields. Ask if they believe they could still farm in that way today. Let them know that the yoke helped to better balance the work between the animals and to take away the full burden of the work by sharing it. Tell them that Jesus still takes about our burdens of sin and lightens our load each day. Then, Take Time For God’s Word at 11:29 am or pm as you see any farmers or farming commercials, then remember this verse. You could copy this verse and include it with the previous one (11:28) so that you can see the bigger picture and the more complete statements by Jesus. We will add 11:30 (Matthew) soon so that you see how they all fit together. These are great words of comfort and hope. Repeat them a few times this week and you will likely know them for life. What a blessing they will be to you and others.
We continue our prayers for all of the refugee support and placement organizations around the world. We especially pray for Exodus World Services (Itasca, IL) for their efforts to partner with churches to give the refugee family the type of supporting people and caring services that they will need to get established in schools, jobs, community, church, etc. There are SO MANY people who help out to make these families feel welcome and feel that they can make a new home here. Be a blessing to those where you live. Encourage them. Mentor them. Pray with and for them. Stay blessed in all that you do. Pass it on in acts of kindness and deeds of love and mercy.
