Taking His Yoke

Taking the yoke of Christ upon us has been on my mind for a while ~ it sounded confusing to me... How could Christ, who bore such burdens in his life and death, say that his burdens were easy and light? They sounded impossibly hard! They ARE impossibly hard for us! How could we possibly take his yoke and burdens upon us? Why would we want to? (well...other than because He has asked us to...) Well, today the light bulb turned on as I read President Howard W. Hunters 1990 General Conference talk - it's not that his yoke is easy for us, but it is for Him, He's the strongest and greatest of all. A yoke ties a weaker animal to a strong one.

We are the weak ones and Christ carries our burdens as we meekly agree to walk with Him and let Him lead. But really He's doing it all. He makes all the difference. He knows how to do it all, He can do it all, He has done it all. He did it for us. I will do it for Him, I will do anything for Him. And what does He ask of me? To trust Him and follow Him. The BYU Devotional that was rebroadcast today by Erin D. Maughan titled "Be Still and Know that I Am God" ~ ended with a poem that sums up beautifully what he asks.

A Tandem Ride With God

I used to think of God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there, sort of like a president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I didn't really know Him.

But later on, when I met Jesus, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Jesus was in the back helping me pedal. I didn't know just when it was He suggested we change, but life has not been the same since I took the back-seat to Jesus, my Lord. He makes life exciting. When I had control, I thought I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places and at break-through speeds; it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it often looked like madness, He said, "Pedal!" I was worried and anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into adventure. And when I'd say, "I'm scared", He'd lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey, our journey, my Lord's and mine. And we were off again. He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found in giving I received, and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it, but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high rocks, fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus.

And when I'm sure I just can't do any more, He just smiles and says... "Pedal."

(Author unknown)