Jesus asks us to make a trade — our yoke for his. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me … for my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” We carry our yoke when we are filled with the worries, anxieties, fears, regrets, resentments, angers that ordinarily make up our world. All of this is heavy. Jesus says if we take ours down and put his on we’ll find it “easy and light.” What is the yoke of Jesus? Placing our trust in God. Instead of needing to be in control so that things need to come out a certain way for our happiness, we rely on the presence and action of God in our life in all things so no matter how things are going we know that “all will be well.” It’s not that the yoke of Jesus is cost-free. We have to surrender our preferences. But we’ll find how much easier it is to lean on the everlasting arms instead of trying to lift our own.
