Take My Yoke

from The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

Jesus regularly invited people to follow him. Normally, his invitation sounded something like, “Whoever wants to be my apprentice, must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow after me.” But in another famous iteration on his well-known invitation, Jesus appealed to all the tired, weary, and burned out, and simply said, “Come, find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

‬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

Jesus’ open invite is to a life of rest, not just for our bodies – we can get that from a doctor or a pill – but at a far deeper level, for our souls.

And yet, his imagery of an “easy yoke” is a bit odd. Far removed from an agrarian economy, we forget that a yoke is a tool for work; it was used to harness oxen together to plow a field. That sounds like the last thing a burned-out worker needs – the tired among us don’t want a yoke, we want a vacation!

But Jesus is wise beyond comprehension; he gets – better than we often do – that life is an unending series of burdens. There’s no way around the weight of responsibility that is life this side of resurrection. What we need isn’t an escape from that weight, but a way to carry it with ease and joy. That’s what Jesus offers – a way to carry the weight of life with a straight back and smile on your face.

In the way of Jesus, Sabbath is a 24-hour practice of restful worship by which we cultivate a spirit of restfulness all week long.

As we near the weekend, and look forward to a day of rest and worship, remember: there are Sabbath moments all through each day. Little opportunities to slow down, and rest under Jesus’ easy yoke. To un-hurry to the life that’s waiting for all of us in him.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:1‭-‬11‬

Exercise for the day: Find your Sabbath moment(s)

Look for little Sabbath moments today – when you first wake up, on your lunch break, before a meeting, etc. When those opportunities come – forgo the urge to reach for your phone, and instead, reach out in your mind for God, and settle into his rest.

Reading question: How is tiredness affecting my experience of Jesus’ kingdom? How can I move toward Sabbath as both a weekly practice and a way of life?