Jesus says: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me”. What is this yoke? It is our total submission to the authority of God. We can learn from him, because he bore it too. Christ took the yoke upon himself and endured everything that encompasses the human experience, and now he walks in the fields with us. We get to take the yoke he already bore, and discover how he loved, served and lived. Our God is a God of relationship. And as we enter into relationship with him, he frees us from sin. Today’s first reading reminds us of his covenant with us to take away our sins. Christ’s yoke is easy, and his burden is light, but to be yoked to Christ, we must release the other weights we carry: sin, our flesh, and the world. We cannot serve many masters. As the Gospel proclamation urges, we must die not only to sin, but to ourselves also. We must be willing to bear the yoke, not drive the plough, and this means taking ourselves off the throne. To be yoked to Christ, is to be free, so he can drive the plough, and so he can have his way.

Prayer: Abba Father, I yoke myself to you and exalt you as my God. Amen.