First I want to tell you that if you feel that something may be holding you back from progressing forward in life, that might mean that you have to let go of the past.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post called – Overwhelmed by Priorities – I talked about how reading the Bible gives rest for the soul.  In that post, I also talked about a word called, “yoke”.  Funny enough, as a young follower of Christ, I would always get this picture of an egg yolk in my mind.  That’s silly, right?  As I think back to those days, I am so thankful for what God was doing in my life.  After I found Jesus, everything changed so dramatically.  Let me tell you why.

Ladies, in my early days, I just wasn’t privileged to be able to grow up as a child.  My worries back then were not about what kind of grades I would get or what I was going to do with my future or even making plans to see my friends.  I spent most of my childhood trying to get away from home.  It wasn’t a safe place like what my kids have, being able to not worry about what’s going to happen next.  I see my kids grow up, and, honestly, I kind of envy them and their ability to live without worry.  I lived in fear most of the time.  It was a life that kept me chained to an idea that I could never be somebody.  It would eventually lead me into two failed marriages.

It was while I was going through my second divorce that everything changed, and I realized how much I needed God.  So I spent the next five years getting to know the Lord, and life changed dramatically in an awesome way.  Looking back to where I use to be, I now completely understand what Jesus meant when he refers to a “yoke” in Scripture, not only because I have researched it but because I lived it.

So, what is a “yoke”?  Dictionary.com tells us that a yoke is “a device for joining together a pair of draft animals, especially oxen, usually consisting of a crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces, each enclosing the head of an animal”.  Wikipedia gives this definition of a yoke:  “A is a wooden beam normally used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do.”

Here is a picture:

Now then, here is a picture with the yoke attached to two oxen:

So, a yoke was made to not only control two animals, it was meant to make them carry a load of cargo or to plow a field.  These two oxen in the picture above were forced to wear this yoke.  The yoke was the only way to get the two animals to go the same way.  As you can see, if one animal would want to go one way, the other would be forced to go the same way.  If either did not agree on which way to go, the animals could be injured.  In this instance, the two oxen are forced to do what the OWNER—or the one guiding them —wants them to do, and if they don’t, they could be injured.  Take note that these two oxen don’t just have a yoke on them; they also have someone guiding them.

Leviticus 26:13 NIV tells us “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.”

This was the process I began to go through once I met Jesus.  He opened the door for me to walk away from the old life, but first, he tended to my wounds and taught me what a life of following Jesus looks like.  I needed to find strength to do my part and to learn how to allow God to intervene on my behalf.

This reminds me of what I experienced as I began to realize that my life had been taking me to a place that was not good for me, and I was finding it very difficult to leave it.  It was often very painful and would cause me to go into depression.  My circumstances were a mix of those that were chosen for me as well as choices I made that led to a lot of heartache.  Could you imagine one of those oxen trying to free themselves from the yoke?  There were a lot of people in my life that held me back trying to keep me bound by their ideals that would force me to serve them instead of improving my life for the better.  College was even a struggle and was even looked down upon.  I was never good enough nor was I allowed to pursue a better life to be good enough.  It was emotional, mental, and physical bondage.  This was my yoke, and it was a very difficult one.  This is why it is very important to be very careful as to what kind of choices you make.  Whatever kind of life that you find yourself in whether you chose it or it was chosen for you, I know from experience, it can be very difficult to leave it behind.

For example, when you enter a relationship, nobody is forthright that they are going to put a yoke on you to make you go their way.  Could you imagine what the leader did to convince the two oxen to wear it?  I suppose it would be something they desire, like food.  During the time that they are munching on the delicious food, the leader slips this yoke on.  It takes them by surprise as they later realize that they can no longer go the way they choose.  The oxen have been manipulated into slavery.  It is one of Satan’s tactics— to lead us off as salves.

Something we need to remember, though, despite all you may be going through, is Matthew 11:28-30 when Jesus tells us:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

So, when you accept Jesus as your personal Savior, you are allowing Jesus to remove the yoke that came from Satan, and now making available for you to TAKE his yoke upon you so that he can lead you out of bondage.  This is important to remember: the yoke you once had was forced upon you.  The yoke that Jesus offers is not forced but rather something you accept.

Something that I need to highlight here is that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is a God that wants you to be free from oppression.  That is what your yoke BEFORE JESUS is: OPPRESSION.  What God offers is RESURRECTION, as he resurrects the life you were always meant to have before Satan got his claws in you.  Let me say it again to be very clear:

SATAN equals OPPRESSION.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  —1 Peter 5:8 NIV

JESUS equals RESURRECTION.  (See webpage entitled How to Know Jesus)

It was Satan’s plan to keep me yoked to people and a life that kept me in slavery and from ever making something of myself.  But it was Jesus who offered a way to freedom.

Let go of the PAST, choose FREEDOM and live in peace with JESUS.

Go forth and be blessed my friend!

---

---

Latest Posts

• A message of Masada
• What is in your perifrial vision
• Two Deceptions
• I’m speechless, but not
• My Hiding Place

Click here to find more content

---