Jesus invited us in Matthew 11:29, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me..." It's hard to really grasp the meaning of this invitation outside of it's ancient agricultural context, but the disciples knew exactly what Jesus meant. The yoke wasn't only a device to harness the power of two animals but it was a mechanism by which a farmer could train a young, weaker, inexperienced ox by placing him in a yoke with an older, stronger ox that was already trained. Jesus was inviting the disciples to learn how to minister effectively by being yoked with Him. Today, the invitation stands and we can be harnessed to the power of Christ.
I believe the yoke is the Holy Spirit. Remember what Jesus promised in Acts 1:8, "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you..." Or, in other words, you will receive power after you've been harnessed to me by the Holy Spirit. We desperately need that power today. We have nothing to offer a lost and dying world in and of ourselves, but if we can just be yoked with Christ, we have HIS power to offer!
Years ago, in the Tournament of Roses Parade, a float broke down and held up the precession for quite a while as workers attempted to determine the cause. After checking out everything else, someone finally thought to check the gas tank and sure enough, it was out of gas. Think about that for a minute. Hours and hours had gone in to preparing this beautiful float. Intricate details were poured over to make sure it looked just so and yet, with all the careful preparation and attention they didn't think to fuel up!
There's a message here about ministry. We so often make sure church looks just right and sounds just right but the real question is, "Have we fueled up? Are we harnessed to the power of Christ?" The truly amazing thing about this story is the float actually represented the Standard Oil Company. If anyone should have thought about checking the gas tank you would think it would be the Standard Oil Company! The same could be said of those of us who are Spirit-filled believers. If anyone should know how important the power of the Holy Spirit is, it's us! It's time to step into the yoke.
