Acts 15:10
“Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”
In the Christian life there are three yokes from which to choose.
You have a yoke of iron which is a result of sin. Sin may seem enjoyable
for a season, but what you don't notice when you choose sin is the yoke
of iron that comes with it. God shows the result of choosing the yoke
of iron when He says in Deuteronomy 28:48, “Therefore shalt thou
serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger,
and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall
put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.” This yoke of iron is an unnecessary yoke that you don't have to carry if you will live for the LORD.
God also has a yoke for you to carry, but His yoke is much easier to carry through life. Matthew 11:30 says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
You can either carry the yoke of iron by living a life of sin, or you
can carry an easier yoke by choosing to follow the way of Christ.
The great thing about carrying this yoke is that you don't carry it alone. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
The reason Christ’s yoke is easy is because He gets in the yoke with
you to help you carry the load. You never carry the yoke of the ministry
alone because you join up with Christ in His yoke. The only time the
ministry becomes burdensome is when you try to take the yoke from Christ
and carry it yourself, but by doing so you are carrying the yoke of
iron.
There is another yoke you can carry which will be burdensome and
troubling. There were some in the church of Galatia who were trying to
add circumcision to the Christian life. They were still struggling with
removing works from salvation. These Christians believed that keeping
the law was necessary to keep their salvation. What they didn't
understand was that they were adding an unnecessary yoke to the
Christian because salvation is all by grace. You are saved and kept by
grace; works have nothing to do with salvation.
Friend, you must be careful about adding to the Christian life
things that are not found in the Scriptures. These preferences can
become a yoke to the Christian and the church. You will find that when
we make our preferences and opinions doctrine, then it will cause
division, trouble the church and hinder the power of God. The Christians
in Berea had it right when they determined to only use the Scriptures
to validate what to teach and preach and how to live the Christian life.
Simply choosing to let the Word of God speak for Itself resulted in
many believing.
You have a choice of yokes from which to carry. You can choose the
iron yoke which sin places upon your life; you can choose to carry the
unnecessary yoke of making preference and opinion the pattern by which
to live the Christian life instead of the Scriptures; or, you can choose
to yoke up with Christ in His yoke which is a light burden to carry.
The Christian life only becomes a burden when you add unnecessary yokes
to it. When you choose to yoke up with Christ in His yoke, you will find
the joy and results you desire for His yoke is “easy” and His “burden is light.”