28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Mathew 11:28-30 kjv

When Jesus brings you to Himself it is with intention for an intimate walk in purpose. But you have two choices:

Choice 1: stay and remain on the Matt 11:28 side of the relationship [where it’s mostly about using him to serve your needs all the time] OR
Choice 2: crossover to the Matt 11:29 side of the relationship where He is LORD over all and you lay down your life to walk with and serve Him.

If you choose the Latter: these are 5 things that will define your life.

5 Things being yoked to Christ ‘should’ impart to you.

1: Learning to Wait.

  • The 1st thing the yoke of the LORD does is to bring you into a posture of ‘waiting’ on Him.
  • Waiting involves a mix of: Study + Meditation + Fasting + Prayer. Whatever the mix, it is marked by many periods of ‘stillness’ & ‘silence’ Mark 1:35
  • The yoke tugs at you to get up and pray at certain times; study at certain times; meditate at certain times. until it becomes your 1st nature. Matt 26:40
  • The fruit of waiting produces hearing the voice of the Lord more clearly & accurately. John 10:27
  • In waiting, you receive DIRECTION! John 12:49 Acts 10:31-32

2: Learning to Follow.

  • There can be no accurate following without first waiting! In waiting you receive direction: then you obey step by step. John 12:26
  • Full Obedience is the key requirement in following. Even in partial obedience you run the risk of going ahead ‘in haste’ & by ‘flight’ Isa 52:12
  • In following you must be careful NOT to carry Lot Gen 12:5 nor salute any man by the way Luke 10:4 for therein lies delay!
  • In order to follow well there are things which He will require us to lay aside [consecration] in other that our hearts/shoulders will be sufficiently free to carry the things He will place upon us. Gen 22:6
  • As you follow by the Spirit you learn the PACE and KNOWING of the Lord.

3: Learning to Bear Burden.

  • The longer the yoke is on you the less your personal issues take priority. Instead the matters which weigh on the Lord’s heart as pertaining to His Kingdom & people become your primary burden on your breastplate.
  • Your Intercessory capacity is enlarged. Because of the yoke the Lord will regularly wake you up and give you matters & people to pray for and meditate on. 2 Tim 1:3
  • The Spirit of intercession is poured out. Interceding by the Spirit through the gift of tongues becomes your default. The Highest form of intercession is in groanings Rom 8:26
  • Whilst intercession is the highest form of burden bearing, it is not the only form of burden bearing. There are other means by which we bear burdens, yet we should all intercede in addition to exercising the other forms.

4: Becoming a Channel for His Word & Power

  • In bearing the yoke you carry THE WORD. Where the word is – there is Power. Ecc 8:4.
  • The yoke brings Power transfer. The manifestation of the Gifts of the Spirit are part and parcel of bearing the Kingdom yoke 1 Cor 4:20.
  • The anointing is always “to”. It is not to be borne as an emblem of pride but to serve the will of God in a generation in accordance with the Heavenly Vision. Luke 4:18

5: Developing a Posture of Service

  • “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve others and give His life as a ransom for many” Matt 20:28 so also your life will be more about serving Gods wholly and serving others.
  • Service will start first from your personal altar as you wait on Him Isa 50:4 then overflow in a more corporate capacity. 1 Cor 12:12-27 1 Cor 14:26
  • You will understand what it means that the first will be the last! 🙂
  • You cannot serve Christ without serving the body of Christ (the church) BUT you can easily serve the church and not serve Christ! This is a very easy and common mistake many make.

Conclusion: Becoming more like Christ. [Mirroring Him]

To know Christ is to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. There is no provision for a mature christian in the Kingdom without service. We are born again as children of God when we accepted Christ, but we are fashioned and given as Sons when we have borne His yoke and taken up responsibility in our father’s house.

His yoke is easy and His burden is light! This is an eternal truth. Any denomination or local assembly that makes His yoke grievous and burdensome to you has stepped out of alignment with Christ!!

The cumulative effect of bearing the yoke of the Lord is that you become more and more like Him in your daily life even as the fruits and gifts of the Spirit become more pronounced in your life.

Just as your feet become burnished in bronze because of regularly treading the furnace of testing and trials Rev 1:15, Your whole life becomes more and more like Christ: in love, in betrayals, in persecutions, in victories, in death and in resurrection John 13:16 The word was tested. The messenger will also be tested.

In the end you will be eternally rewarded according your Faithfulness and Fruitfulness in your service to Him. So let us serve Him acceptably whilst we still have the time.

Amen

[Related Posts]