Article June 10, 1905 Issue

"My yoke is easy."

MAY LOUISE JACOBS.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.—Christ Jesus.

"Ye shall find rest unto your souls,"—the reward is abundant, and day by day, as our spiritual understanding grows clearer through the revelations of Christian Science, does this promise convey a richer meaning and come nearer fulfilment in our experience. In a measure, as we learn of Christ and partake of his meekness and lowliness of heart, we are coming to understand the promise; in a measure, too, we are learning the nature of the burden to be borne. But do we realize the two-fold significance of taking Christ's yoke upon us; what this act implies on our part, what it meant to the Master?

Through centuries of association, the yoke has come to be a sign of servitude and bondage: the oxen at the plow are yoked together; the Israelites in their captivity were under the yoke of their oppressors. Hence, by voluntarily taking Christ's yoke upon us, we signify our intention to labor in the kingdom of God, not, however, as captives, unwillingly, but of our own free choice. From the Scriptures we learn that God "desires mercy, and not sacrifice," and the Master said, "Henceforth I call you not servants; ... but I have called you friends." The Master who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," would not demand submission merely for the sake of submission, nor a sign of servitude as an end in itself. Though the yoke has, in the history of material man and beast, become the symbol of servility, its true object is not to show subjection, but rather that the oxen may the better do the work of their master; may bear their burdens more easily than would be possible without it. So also in its spiritual sense, the yoke is not a burden, but a means of lightening our burdens, and enabling us to perform our duty as children of Him whom we acknowledge as our Father, the creator and Life of all. When we take upon us the yoke of Christ,—that is, when we give our obedience to Truth with the right conception of Life, the right understanding and estimate of all things,—we find our strength increasing through the very act of submitting to this yoke which our wearied senses, in their ignorance, had looked upon as an added burden. Our Master, Christ, relieves us of the heavy weight of the yoke of selfishness and erring judgment; relieves us, in proportion to our willingness and faithfulness, of our burden of sins and diseases, anxieties and perplexities of mortal existence. Instead of these, Truth offers us a share in the labor that is light with hope and satisfying in the certainty and fulness of its fruits,—even the labor of spreading the gospel of Life and Truth and Love; and to help us in this work, we are provided with the easy yoke of obedience to the all-wise and unerring Principle, Love.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

"My yoke is easy."

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access