The yoke is not only a means of adopting Christ’s triumphant way of living, but it is also a sign of ownership. Jeremiah made a yoke for himself to wear as a sign that Judah, his beloved nation, would wear the yoke of the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:2, 12). Since Judah had worshiped Babylon’s idols, she then had to wear Babylon’s yoke. I cannot avoid the consequences of submission to the wrong master. Paul says that I am the slave of either sin or righteousness (Romans 6:15–16). He also implies that whichever master I serve, I must wear his yoke (or ownership). I cannot indulge in sin without giving up some of my sovereignty to it. Just as I cannot be partially married, so I cannot be partially righteous.
The only way I can escape my yoke to sin or the world or Satan is to break it. Naturally I cannot break that yoke by my own power, but God says He will help me: “And now I will break his yoke from upon you, and snap your bonds asunder” (Nahum 1:13, Berkeley). Praise God for His resource of power! However, that power cannot become operative in me until I will to have it do so; in short, I must want the yoke broken so intensely that I freely invite God to smash it to pieces for me. Despite the strength of the yoke, or the length of time I have served under it, God is sufficiently mighty to redeem me from its authority and stranglehold.
Jeremiah lamented that his people had broken God’s yoke over them (Jeremiah 2:20; 5:5). God forbid that I ever find His yoke so confining, so enslaving, and so disagreeable that I ever contemplate breaking it off me. To wear the yoke of Jesus Christ is the highest of honors, and the most lasting and satisfying of vocations.
“Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12).
Daily with the King 