July 4

Jeremiah 28
When the signal was given the pair of draft horses immediately sprang into action. They were bred for this. They were trained for this. They were eager for this. Often times their eagerness to pull the burden is so great that they fault at the start and lose the competition. If you have ever been to a draft horse pulling contest, you know exactly what I am talking about. Laura loves to watch the beauty of the horses as they are yoked to pull together in competition. Consequently, I often take her to the county fair to watch this event. It always amazes me that these horses have such a strong desire to pull these awesome amounts of weight. They are eager to do it. They are passionate about it. Are you passionate about the work of the Lord Jesus?
The Lord had clearly stated through Jeremiah that the nation was to submit to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar and that Jeconiah would never come back from Babylon. But in the wave of nationalism in Jerusalem, Hananiah could not resist the thought that Jeremiah was not speaking for the Lord. He announced that within a few short years, Coniah would be returned and the yoke of Babylon would be broken. Hananiah was making the people trust in a lie. He died within the year as a punishment for speaking that lie. What was wrong with the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar? It just did not square with their nationalism.
There is a yoke that the Lord has called us to. It is recorded in Matthew 11:28-30. He said,
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
When a rabbi called a young man to be his disciple, he would call him to take his yoke upon him. For those of you who are not familiar with the agrarian setting, a yoke is an apparatus used to link a beast of burden to a plow or some implement or wagon for the purpose of accomplishing a laborious task. Often two or more beasts of burden would be yoked together in order to perform tasks greater than which one beast could perform. When training a new animal, it would be yoked to a stronger well trained animal until the new animal was fully trained. Before we find Jesus we were under the burden of sin. When we find Jesus, He sets us free from the burden of sin order that we can share in His yoke. He does not save us from work but for work. It is a work in which we are yoked with Him, for Him and by Him. He enables us to do our part and trains us. His burden is easy, and His yoke is light.
This July 4th I wonder, “Are we eager to be in the yoke to which He calls us? Or like Hananiah do we prefer the yoke of nationalism?” Are the comforts and values of our country more important to us than the job to which He has called us in the establishment of His kingdom? It would seem that there are many voices that beckon us to lay aside the yoke of the Lord. Some of the voices even come from trusted spiritual leaders. Are we more passionate about our nation than we are His work? It is the glory of the Lord to yoke us together with Himself to accomplish the work of His Kingdom. Are we passionate about our part in that Kingdom? After all it is for His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john