Some of those burdens are yours. Others are for the people you care about. 

But you don’t have to carry those burdens one day longer.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 RSV).

Many people get confused about this passage.

When Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you,” some think he is giving us something else to deal with.

Our burden is heavy enough. Do we really want to add his yoke to the list?

But a yoke is actually a board with two arches in it that you put over two cattle so they can pull a cart.

The value of a yoke is that it halves the load. Without a yoke, one cow’s got to pull that entire load by itself.

But if you yoke up the cow with another cow, then the two animals pull the load together, and the load is half as heavy.

When Jesus says to take his yoke upon you, he’s not saying he’s going to give you his problems.

Jesus doesn’t have any problems! He’s saying he’s going to share your problems. He’s going to share your load.

He’s going to take your stress on himself and bear it with you.

Wow!

Jesus uses three notable verbs in this Scripture: come, learn, and take.

Jesus says, “Come to me. Team up with me. Then, learn how I do it. Take on a lighter load.This is going to reduce your stress. This is going to make it easier for you to navigate.”

When you’re yoked with Christ, you move together with him.

You move in the same direction and at the same speed.

And you move in the right direction and at the right speed.