These Are My JOTtings, Part #2

Yoked with Jesus

Yoked with Jesus, I'm free of having to carry my burden by myself.
Sadly, I have often forgotten this important principle.
I run ahead or I lag behind when Jesus' yoke, like the Pillar of Cloud or Fire of Israel,
is waiting to be obeyed, and is unmoved from His Purpose at any given day or time.

Did I really become yoked with Jesus at age six when I prayed the prayer to be saved?
He said I would become peaceful when I became His child,
but I haven't always been peaceful. Fretful, I've struggled with strife of heart.
"I've got to get it right, to know I'm saved, to be confident beyond the shadow of a doubt!"

That doesn't sound like peace, does it? That doesn't sound like a light burden, does it?

Yet how many times in my life have I been on the way to getting into trouble,
(big or little, there is no difference before GOD,)
but before I could cross that final line to irreparably damage my life in one or many ways
something yanked me back, preventing me from going forward with my plans.

The yoke of Jesus, a leash for my doglike inner man, running after the flesh.
The yoke of Jesus: the Lord saying, "You see restraint. My peace means being kept."
The yoke of Jesus, an ability I do not have in a task, that gets done.
The yoke of Jesus teaches me to walk in lock-step with Him, learning His rest.

One would think it is wise to yoke together two oxen of similar strength,
but that is not always the case. Often a much stronger ox takes one side of the yoke
with a weaker ox on the other side to train and to build strength in the weaker.
The "mentor" ox pulls more than the load for the farmer. He carries the learner, too.

For more than fifty years, I have been yoked with Jesus. I have often caused Him to take a heavy step, not budging, until His anxious, impertinent, dancing little learner would quit kicking, standing for the new step. Experience and age are starting to make me a better yokefellow, but anxiety causes me to rattle the bars. Must rest be a lifelong lesson?

Word Count: 446
Line Count: 25
Bible Verse: Matthew 11:28-30, KJV
Prompt: "Free Verse 'JULY 15TH/AUGUST 15TH PROMPT' 'Being YOKED with JESUS'"

by Jay O'Toole
on August 10th, 2020