Pastor, you carry on your shoulders a lot of responsibilities—leading your congregation, preaching, teaching, counseling and caring for many people in difficult circumstances. 

Yet the promise of Matthew 11:28-30 speaks directly to you and your situation. 

Jesus said, “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).

Some people get confused by the phrase, “Take my yoke upon you.” They think, “Lord, do you want to give me something else to deal with? My burden is heavy enough already! I don’t need to take your problems on me!”

But as you may know, a yoke is a board with two arches; it’s placed over two cattle so they can pull a cart. The value of a yoke is that it cuts the load in half. 

Without a yoke, one cow has to pull the entire load by itself. But if you yoke up one cow with another cow, then the two animals pull the load together, making it half as heavy.

So when Jesus tells you to take on his yoke, 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 the burden of your problems. He’s going to share your load. He’s going to take your stress on himself and bear it with you.

Wow! What a promise!

Jesus uses three notable verbs in this Scripture: come, learn, and take. It’s like Jesus was saying, “Come team up with me so you can learn how I do it. Take on a lighter load that will reduce your stress and make your problems easier to navigate.”

When you’re yoked with Christ, you move together with him. You move in the same direction and at the same speed. You move in the right direction and at the right speed. And you move with a lighter burden.

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