Following Jesus
John 8:12
12Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
When a person walks in darkness, it is a path full of discouragement and self condemnation. When we follow Jesus, He leads us out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. Jesus says; “Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)
It has been proven, when two oxen are yoked together, they can pull more than double the combined weight two single oxen could pull. Jesus says when we want a happy fulfilled life, the way to have it is yoking to Him.
Solutions Thru Jesus
When we follow Jesus, and yoke to him, the burdens we were carrying become His burdens as well. We are told to cast our burdens and cares on Him so that we might live care-free, enjoying the provisioned life He would like for us to have. (1Peter 5:7) Imagine yourself as the Ox who was pulling a huge burden, now you are yoking together with another Ox to pull your load. Since two can pull more than double, not only did the heavy burden reduce by half, it reduced by more than 75% as soon as you became yoked. That is what happens when we find our solutions in Jesus, once we yoke together with Him in His truths, we use God’s word for solutions, thereby taking our burdens to Him for the solution; suddenly it feels light.
When you cast your cares on Him, you have traded your anxious thoughts for his calmness. You swap your unrest for His peace, in the midst of the exchange, you begin to see the problem you were facing corrected in a way that could only happen with God’s help. During the exchange, you learn to wait upon the Lord to solve your problems. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Train Thru Jesus
When a young ox yokes to the older, more experienced ox, he begins his training. The younger ox has to learn the way the older ox moves, and as he joins into the fluid movement, his life is made easier. This is the same thing that happens to us as we yoke to the words of Jesus. As we learn what God has made available to us as joint heirs with Jesus, we can begin to live in the fluid movement of the blessings of Abraham, that are claimed by faith. All these blessings are earthly blessing of prosperity, health and protection. We find that in this fluid movement of God’s word, that God is for us,and His help is more than enough. (Isaiah 54:17)
Beloved, when God has made you joint heirs with Jesus, delivered you from your enemies, and stops weapons formed against you from prospering, your burdens not only become light, they go away.