YOUR SPIRITUAL YOKE - Acts 15:10
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?
Paul and Barnabas have gone to Jerusalem to have the elders answer the question as to whether the Gentiles had to be circumcised before they could be saved. Upon arriving in Jerusalem, they shared with the church what the Lord had done. There were some Pharisees which believed who began to argue that the Law of Moses had to be followed. However, Peter stood up and reminded everyone about how God spoke to him about how there was no difference between the Jew and Gentile and that it was the purifying of the hearts that was important in God’s site.
Peter then asked why the Pharisees were trying to make it more difficult for the Gentiles to be saved. By requiring circumcision, not only did Paul and Barnabas have to preach the good news to the Gentiles, but they also had to then oversee a circumcision service.
Jesus told you that you were to lay down your yoke and take up HIS yoke. Your yoke is filled with your own self-righteousness, works, and rules. Christ’s yoke is filled with HIS love for the world, his desire that none should perish, and HIS righteousness. Christ has already given the believer a yoke that they must bear, Peter was condemning the believing Pharisees for trying to make Christ’s yoke harder. Christ is asking you to give up your worldly yoke for HIS spiritual yoke, why should the spiritual yoke be burdened with worldly things?
Christ is the perfect bridegroom and you must lay aside your yoke in order to take on the yoke of Christ. When you lay aside your own desires, goals, and ambitions in order to take on the yoke of Christ, you are committing to now fulfill God’s desires, goals, and ambitions for your life. You are able to do great things for God because you are sharing your burden with Christ. Your burden will remain light as long as you allow yourself to simply stay committed to God’s burden. Your yoke however will become heavy, just like your worldly yoke that you gave up if you allow man to add to your spiritual burden the rules and regulations that they think you must follow in order to be spiritual.
The yoke of Christ requires that you think upon and act upon the things of God. God’s yoke is perfect for you and as long as you follow HIS direction for your life, HIS grace will be sufficient for you. However, when you begin to allow the things of this world to crowd out your time with God, you will find that your burden will become unbearable. Remember how Job lost everything and did not sin against God. Job kept his focus upon God and understood that God gave him everything and it was God who could take everything away from him.
The more you put on the mind of Christ, the less likely you will be to accept the burden of others being placed upon your yoke and the less likely you will be to add worldly burdens to the spiritual yoke of others. It is important that you learn to think upon that which is true, honest and just so that you do not tempt others to add unnecessary elements to the yoke of Christ that they are bearing. You are responsible to God for your actions. Be careful that your actions do not cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble. Ensure that you are bearing Christ’s yoke and not your own yoke of your own desires.