For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. Matthew 11:30
Did you ever read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs? If not, you should. That book tells, sometimes in gory details, of the persecution and execution of the early Christians, and others down through the centuries. For those folks who were cast into arenas with lions, or were imprisoned for years in dark cold dungeons, or who were burned at the stake, or were butchered by the pope’s savage police, we might find it difficult to reconcile their situation with Jesus’ words in today’s text. Missionaries who have laboured long in dangerous fields, faithful saints who have known rejection, cruelty, and deprivation, and dear Christians who have encountered horrible tragedies and sorrows in their lives, all of these we might see as standing in contrast to Jesus’ words. But to put it into perspective, where are those folks now? They have entered into their rest, knowing nothing but comfort and peace forevermore. Memories of the trials of this little while fade rapidly amid the joys of Heaven.
More than one person has told me that their worst day as a Christian was better than their best day in their sins. That must surely be true, because the unsaved person, regardless of their material circumstances, is carrying a heavy burden of sin. All who do not know their sins forgiven are like the poor man in Pilgrim’s Progress, who was troubled by the great burden on His back. Many are unaware of that burden, and yet, they know nothing of the joys of sins forgiven, the calm assurance of peace with God, and the glorious hope of eternal life. Aware of it or not, the unsaved carry heavy baggage, the sins and habits that are dragging them to perdition forever, and the hopelessness of ever being released from the certainty of their own destruction. No Christian, regardless of the burdens of their life or the trials and persecutions they must bear, would ever want to go back to a life of hopeless uncertainty and guilt. That yoke is cruel and that burden is heavy.
A Christian who links their life to the will of their Lord knows the ease of the yoke and the lightness of the burden. The circumstances of life, no matter how rough, become unimportant when compared to the delight of being in His will and enjoying His companionship. Some Christians burden themselves with too much of the world’s business, and so know too little of the joys of being about our Father’s business.
Someone has well said that the yoke of Christ does not fit on a stiff neck. But it does fit comfortably on the neck bowed in His service. -Jim MacIntosh