Jesus made a statement about being yoked with Him in Matthew 11:30. The complete passage Is “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Most people think obeying God is hard and it is if you are not relying on Him and don’t know His promises. We are full of misconceptions about Him because we are ignorant of His word. I would like to make the case that it is much easier to follow and obey God than we think. That’s because He has done all of the work. The passage above is not only a statement, it is a promise we can take to the bank! God cannot lie. Once you settle this fact in your heart, everything gets easier.

The Yoke is Partnership

The yoke in this passage, to me, speaks of partnership and submission. Oxen are yoked to pull a wagon, but the guy with the reins is the master who knows where the wagon is going. The oxen do not. Their job is to take the guidance of the guy with the reins, following his lead. If one ox was to veer off and do his own thing, it pulls the other ox off track too. It disrupts the trip. This speaks of partnership with other believers to accomplish the will of God, but it is also very much a partnership with King Jesus. The partnership, the yoke, is with both, since believers are the body of Jesus in the earth.

God has the Master Plan of the universe, of which you are one small piece of. God knows everything about everyone and everything, past, present, and future. I trust His judgment, and you should too. Submitting to His guidance, as oxen submit to the owner, will ensure you arrive safely at your destination in life.

He works in us to will and to do what is right

To believers who are yoked with and submitted to Him, the New Testament says He works in us to WILL and to DO for HIs good pleasure. How simple is that? Philippians 2:13 in the Amplified bible, “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.” It’s actually Him working in us causing us to have His desires; our part is to respond. You see, God knows we can’t make it through life successfully without Him!

I would like readers to ponder what this scripture means for their walk with God. We need to put our faith into this promise because it is true. Proclaim it! Say it out loud. And once He puts in you the desire to do something, you will do it…because you actually want to. This is what it means to live by the Spirit. This is living supernaturally…by the promptings and desires from God that arise in your heart. You don’t do this on your own. His Holy Spirit works in your spirit to cause you to desire what He desires, and then He imparts the power to do what He is asking you to do! It’s actually quite brilliant, but what God has done is get rid of the old selfish sin nature that wanted to sin; He replaced it with His Spirit. We should meditate on these things. It helps renew our minds to the truth of what He has done for and in us. We are no longer children of the devil looking for ways to sin. We are children of the Most High God and we don’t even want to sin anymore. Our new nature has set us free to love, serve, and please Him. If you aren’t experiencing this wonderful activity of God in your life, let’s get you born again.

Even the Old Testament had promises of assistance

I have come across some Old Testament scriptures that, to me, are absolutely astounding in light of the fact that the Old Testament people did not have their sins removed because Jesus hadn’t come yet, and they did not have their natures changed yet, such as we get to experience on this side of the cross.

Lets start with Deuteronomy 30:12-14 where God declares, from the Amplified bible, “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.” Deuteronomy 30:11. (The King James and the New King James versions say it’s too mysterious for you, but every other version says it this way, using the word difficult.)

Wait. What? You mean the Old Testament people had the power, the ability to do the commandments? God’s word says “it is not too difficult for you.” Is God a liar? The answer is no.

Deuteronomy 30:12-14 goes on to say, “It is not [a secret hidden] in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it? Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it? But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.”

This same verse is also quoted by the apostle Paul in Romans 10:6-8. In Romans 10 we also learn that you obtain salvation in this manner:“ if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10

Faith is always the requirement

I’m not sure I can even explain it, but there were Old Testament saints who were made righteous by their faith in God. The Bible says so. There was Abraham, Moses, David and many others. They still followed the law as best they could but that didn’t make them righteous; it was their faith and hope in God that did that, just as believers do today. The right standing with God that Jesus obtained is now our right standing with God.

Let me say this…although it may seem as if God is distant, He has not made it hard to find Him if you have the desire. He has not made it hard for you to follow Him if you have the desire. Sin has hardened us and kept us away from Him. But if a person turns and says, My way is not working out for me…there must be a God Who can help me. (it’s what I did), He is there, just like a loving father would be, to welcome you back, to love you and restore you. He is ready and waiting.

God’s intentions are the same for every person

We see this intention of God to do this in Old Testament scriptures such as in the book of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 11:19, God says this to Ezekiel: “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.”

He promises to give all of us a new heart and remove the heart that is full of sinful desires. This is the problem with man. This is why man does evil. He has a stony heart he was born with. The sin of Adam and Eve caused this to happen to everyone born into the earth after them.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.“

Here He promises to CAUSE us to walk in his ways. It’s Him working in us. Our part is to respond to Him, trusting Him like a child would when they obey the direction of their parents.

God’s promises are to “whosover will”

Now some may say, these scriptures were written to the Jewish people. Why, yes they were. But when the Jewish people rejected their Messiah Jesus at His first coming, the offer was extended to those who were not Jews. Now all of us non-Jewish people get to experience these great benefits of God, and it will make the Jewish people jealous to see it. Then eventually, they will see and understand and come to acknowledge that Jesus is their Messiah too. That’s what the Scriptures say.

Now go and enjoy your life in God, knowing that He is always guiding you and working in you to bring you into the plan He has for your life.