Dusty Feet

The road that leads to heaven is risky, lonely, and costly in this world, and few are willing to pay the price. Following Jesus involves losing your life - and finding new life in him.

- David Platt

My family were avid antique collectors when I was growing up. My mom loved Depression glass, my sister salt and pepper shakers, I collected salt dips, and my dad, whatever piece of furniture he could restore to its original beauty.

There was a particular Christmas that Dad had seen an ox yoke and talked about how much he’d love to have it. It was beautiful, and although you could tell it was old and worn, it was still in one piece. The tedious construction had paid off. Dad studied it intently, but it was just too expensive to purchase. You can imagine his surprise when on Christmas day, my mom had us all go out to the trunk of the car. When she opened it, there it was! The ox yoke! (By the way, if you don’t know what an ox yoke looks like, google it! Amish farmers in the community I grew up in still use them!)

Dad didn’t want the ox yoke for the construction or because it was an unusual antique to find. He wanted it for what it represented. Dad loved visual teaching moments, and he used the yoke to “teach” the meaning of these verses:

Come to me, all you 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 easy and my burden is light.

- Matthew 11:28-30

A yoke is a wooden beam with oxbows that are secured around the animal's necks. It kept them moving in the same direction as they plowed. A yoke was familiar to those Jesus was talking to because it was often associated with slavery. There are over 60 scriptures that refer to yoke in that context. These are just a couple:

By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.

- Genesis 27:40

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

- Leviticus 26:13

Let’s go back to the passage in Matthew. Jesus was inviting the listeners to follow Him. He was inviting them to be disciples. The Hebrew word for disciple is “talmid,” which defines the importance of the relationship between the teacher and disciple. In ancient times, when a disciple followed a teacher as they walked from one place to the next, they would say, “May I be clothed with the dust of the rabbi’s feet.”

They wanted the teacher's way of life to become their own.

The lesson my dad was teaching me all of those years ago was to follow Jesus and allow Him to guide me gently. Any other way would lead to weariness and burdens too big for me to carry on my own.

What is Jesus asking you to surrender to Him? Are you a slave of money, status, appearance and power? Maybe it’s an addiction or anger buried so deep your words destroy everyone along the way.

In the Matthew 11 verses, Jesus invites us to leave behind the weariness and burdens of the “yoke” of slavery and live a life with rest and peace, closer to Him.

Pastor Pam

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