The Commands of Christ, Part Twenty-Two

There’s a misconception that sometimes plagues new Christians that, upon accepting Christ as their savior, everything is going to magically be easier. More often than not, that doesn’t happen. Why? Because more often than not the change in our heart is gradual and not instant. The more our hearts align with the will God has for our lives, the easier it becomes to find things like joy and peace in our lives. But that doesn’t mean that during the process of aligning our will with God’s will that we have to struggle on our own. In fact, it’s the opposite. Allowing Christ control of your life puts the most powerful being in known existence on your side, fighting for you! Our verse for this command comes from Matthew 11:28-30 (NASB20)

Come to Me, all 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 comfortable, and My burden is light.

There’s a nerdy card game you may have heard of called Magic: The Gathering. I played it a lot with friends in my younger years. Whenever I’m asked how God can allow bad things to happen, I’m brought back to the various versions of a card titled “Circle of Protection.” The card game has different colors of cards: blue, black, white, green, and red. There was a Circle of Protection card for each color and it prevented cards of that color from hurting my cards or me. If I was playing against an opponent who used cards of different colors, but I only had a Circle of Protection to protect against blue cards, then I was only half protected.

As we begin our Christian walks, we have things that we’re ready to give up wholly and completely for God and, for many of us, we also have things that we think we’d like to hold onto for a while. I accepted Christ around 12 years old. I didn’t start using my gift of writing for Christ until my early 40’s. Just providing that example so you don’t feel as bad about anything you might still be holding on to. Sometimes, it’s our talents that we withhold from God and sometimes, it’s our struggles: things we think we have to solve on our own. Most commonly, it’s something that we think is too small for God to care about.

God doesn’t force His will on us, even when He knows His will is what’s best for us. Here are some scriptures for reference (NASB20 for all)

Matthew 23:37

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chucks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

This is Christ expressing his sorrow that Jerusalem did not want to be under God’s protection and care.

Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Christ tells us here that he wants to be a part of our daily life, but He will only do it when we invite Him to be.

Proverbs 1:23-24

Turn to my rebuke, Behold I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention

Part of being a Christian is allowing ourselves to be moved under God’s circle of protection. If you read through the Old Testament stories, you can see all the times that Israel willfully walked outside of God’s circle of protection and that’s when things typically went sideways for them. We do the same thing today. We act outside of God’s will and then we wonder why things aren’t getting easier for us. We look to the time of our salvation and then to the heavens and say or think something like, “I said I was a Christian now, but you’re not protecting me from all this bad stuff you said you would, God! Why not?” The answer lies in accepting his yoke.

What’s a yoke? Technically speaking, it was wooden harness that farmers would place over a set of oxen or bulls so they’d be able to plow together at the same speed and with shared strength. It’s important to note: Christ isn’t the other ox in this picture. He may give you a spouse or a family member in Christ that is the other ox to help you do seemingly impossible things, but He’s not the other ox. He’s the farmer. His yoke, and what He wants us to pull with it, is easy when compared to the weight of what we try to carry on our own. That’s why we are called to cast our yoke aside in favor of his.

But, ultimately, a yoke represented submission. It was often symbolically used to reference ancient slavery or being under hardship. The world has no problem making any of us feel like we’re not pulling enough weight. It’s a back and forth my wife and I have a lot. I think she’s doing amazingly well, but she feels like she’s not doing enough. Often, I think I’m failing her as a husband, but she has nothing but positive things to say about how I lead our family and how I treat her. The yokes we put on ourselves, the expectations we put on ourselves, are often far heavier than what Christ actually wants us to carry. That’s where submission comes.

If I submit my financial concerns to God, not just saying I do, but truly seeking AND FOLLOWING His wisdom for my finances, that area of my life falls under His circle of protection: His yoke. If I submit my health concerns to God, truly seeking and following His wisdom for my health, that area of my life falls under His circle of protection: His yoke. See, just as we learned when Christ taught us seek God’s kingdom first and trust in Him to provide all of our needs, the same is true for our submission.

By fully submitting my life over to Christ and switching the yoke I place on myself for His yoke, I trust that He is going to guide me where to go. He’s going to walk beside me, giving commands, offering gentle correction when I stray off course. Being fully submitted isn’t as easy as it sounds. The world is full of distractions and demands. But Christ wants to give us rest. He tells us that His burden is light. What He wants is to keep us within His circle of protection so we don’t have to endure things that don’t represent His best intentions for us. Will He let us stray and do things on our own? Yes. But there are consequences when we do. Will He let us back in the flock and give us rest when we ask? Praise God that answer is also Yes!