Easy and light…

Part seven

‘For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

Some say that God never gives us more than we can bear but I disagree, I think He does BUT He never gives us more than we can bear through Him, with His grace and help.

‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee:

Here we have the picture of a farmer working his fields.

When a farmer has two oxen that work together the yoke is shaped to fit those ox and the older more experienced ox takes the lead and as long as the younger ox follows there’s no problem.

But if the wrong yoke was to be laid on those oxen it would soon chafe and cause pain or if one ox was to be constantly trying to pull in a different direction things would rapidly get really difficult and the yoke would be hard to bear.

Jesus yoke is easy if we walk right by His side and let Him lead and it’s easy if we don’t rebel against it and try to go off in our own way.

Jesus burden is light but we can so quickly pick up burdens that God never meant us to carry then our load becomes too heavy to bear.

Friends, we’re not told that by following Jesus we’ll have everything we want and no troubles along the way, in fact we’re told the opposite, there’s to be that daily taking up of our cross, that there’s to be that crucifying of self BUT what we are promised is that when we walk with Jesus He will help us to bear even the heaviest burden and the most crushing weight, making it light and easy.

The most bitter trial becomes sweet when Jesus is walking close by our side carrying the burden with us.

Easy – chrestos – here means better, good, gracious, kind, fit for us, pleasant. As opposed to hard, harsh or bitter.

Light – elaphros – means light or easy.

The only other place this Greek word elaphros is used in the Bible is in this verse where Paul said…

‘For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;’

God’s way is always good, it’s better, it’s pleasant and it’s fit for us!! This is the way of wisdom and ‘Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.’

Friends, there’s a purpose in these afflictions, in our hard things, God allows them to send us running to Jesus so that through them we might find the beauty and blessing of complete dependence upon Christ Jesus!

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Matt 11:30, Ps 55:22, 2 Cor 4:17, Prov 3:17.

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