What In The World Is A YOKE?

 “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” (Matt. 11:28-30).

Hey Gang:   There are growing numbers of people who believe my bride and I are completely off our rockers.  You see, four or five times per year we drive to the Blue Gate Restaurant for breakfast. Why weird?  Because the Blue Gates happens to be in Shipshewana, Indiana some 130 miles from our abode.

You see about a thousand years ago, (really more like 50 years ago) I had the privilege of living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and working for the Cream Top Dairy picking up milk from fifty three Amish farms.  I would like to share some of the wonderful experiences I had and the vast education I received from the Millers, Bontragers, Zooks,and the Yoders, but will save that for another day.

If you know anything about Amish country you know that the horse is the main source of power.  I especially enjoy our Spring trip to Shipshe, for the farmers have their four to six horse teams of Clydesdales or Perc Heian Work horses working in unison preparing the fields for harvest.  In many cases it is the eldest teen age boy in the family who is driving these massive horses.

In my earlier trips to Amish country I was surprised to note that there were no yokes, and even collars are now used basically for decorations.  If you are grey haired and part of the older that dirt brigade, you may know what a yoke is but,” if the question, “What is a yoke? would appear on the final exam, most would not a clue what it was. 

Webster defines the word as “a wooden frame for harnessing together a pair of oxen; a word meaning bondage or servitude, or something that binds.  I suspect Jesus is referring to all three of these definitions  when He said, “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”.  (Matt. 11:29-30).  (Remember he was a carpenter and had made many yokes for oxen.) 

 While stationed in Korea I learned about ‘yokes’ and saw them in action. They are a very familiar sight where teams of oxen are used to work the rice paddies.  To watch them struggling with the yoke makes one wonder what Jesus really meant when He said, “My yoke is easy”. 

I found a neat little ditty in a book titled 199 Reasons To Be Thankful which adds some clarity to what I believe Jesus was saying.  God’s yoke is easy; His burden is light; for He’s the one carrying the weight! 

When you’re going through a time when the alligators are especially active, He longs for you to hand over the heavy lifting to Him.  He is able to bear what you cannot.  The Word in Nahum 1:7 gives us this assurance “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who take refuge in Him.”  The Psalmist wrote “The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want.”  (Psa. 23:1)  How deeply do you believe that?

Blessings,

Gramps