P ♰ C

by Jean Allen

“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.” In Jesus’s time, a yoke meant the teachings of a particular rabbi. Jesus is inviting us to be followers of his teachings and he is still dealing with being of equal weight and value as him. If you follow his precepts and truly make them an integral part of your heart’s journey, you will also become as gentle and as humble in heart as he was – and still is.

His promise is this: if you really do learn from him, you will find the beautiful rest that comes from being gentle and humble in heart.

Why is that restful? It is because when we are not gentle or humble, we are defensive, aggressive, anxious, possessive and ego driven. We are always looking for everything to go the way we think they should go and have anger issues when they don’t. We need to be recognized as being right. We need validation and respect from others. We need, we need, we need…

What an exhausting way to live! However, simply refraining from outward actions that would indicate this neediness isn’t what will bring us rest. Part of Jesus’s yoke is understanding how absolutely loved we are by him and the Father and knowing in our depths that forgiveness and compassion have been gifted to us without measure. It is in grasping that part of Jesus’s yoke that we find the ultimate rest because we are not seeking to demand from the world, which includes our spiritual community, that which we can only find in Jesus.

Did you get that? We can only find love, respect, dignity and purpose in Jesus. Finding it all there makes you gentle. It makes you humble.

What an amazing yoke!