“Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.” Matthew 11:28-30 TPT
This is a very familiar invitation Jesus made to the people when He walked this earth. When Jesus spoke this to them, He spoke in terms they understood very well. He said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light”. Now that doesn’t mean too much to us, but it did to them because they were an agricultural society that used animals and carts as forms of transportation and farming. Many times the animals of choice were either horses or oxen. The word gentle (meek) in this passage is the Greek word Praus. The Classic Greek defines it as training a horse to wear a bridle, or an animal with a yoke.
So what was the yoke used for? To have two animals joined to work together for a common task. Many times a younger animal was attached to an older one, so the younger would learn how to learn the proper pace and to follow the direction of the master. This by no means harmed the animal, as a matter of fact it was made of wood and was created for each individual animal. Measurements were taken, it was crafted to be comfortable and not heavy, it was painstakenly created to be a help and benefit for the animal.
In today’s verse Jesus said that when we join our life with His, we can learn to live a life of gentleness, ease and refreshment. When we develop the character of meekness, it means we are willing to submit our lives to God and follow His ways so that we can live a better life. When we join our lives with Jesus, through Holy Spirit we then can become like Him, because He not only shows us how, but Holy Spirit actually empowers us to transform our souls into something God can use to help others see Him in us.
There are few things more majestic than a powerful animal in control able to do amazing things because they learned to work together and use their power to create and be productive rather than destroy. Perhaps that is why Scripture tells us that when we wait on Him we will rise up like eagles.
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