Yokes:
Something that rests upon the shoulders, and is instrumental in guiding and turning. Yokes join or unite things together

I would call the yoke a collar as I am reminded of what my dog has around his neck that I can attach a chain in order to guide and at times restrain him.

Many don’t realize that we all have yokes on us because we can’t see it. Not realizing this we also miss the fact that there are different types of yokes.

Yokes bind you to something. Therefore, a covenant agreement is a yoke.

Yokes are not easily broken. (Or shouldn’t be.)

Marriage is a yoke. (See Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9)

Sin is also a yoke. It is the yoke of burden that we all were born wearing.

Sin is a heavy weight. Have you ever felt like you carried the weight of the world on your shoulders?

Yep that’s the yoke.

But Jesus, who holds the keys, and unlocked the yoke of sin off of us all tells us to take his yoke upon ourselves.

Now here is some thing to think about:

Maya Angelou had a written work entitled “Why Does the Caged Bird Sing.”

If you understand that then you would know why it is that we need Jesus yoke upon us.

About 4 years ago, when I first moved to Virginia, I was supposed to speak at an AME Homecoming at Beulah AME church in Farmville VA. Because I was, and am, not AME in denomination I took time to study, and to understand the foundation of this denomination.

In short, what I learned is of the wisdom of the founders of the Free African Society (FAS) – Richard Allen and Absalom Jones and a couple other freed blacks who lived during times of slavery.

The FAS which was supposed to be a nondenominational religious organization that would serve the spiritual, economic, and social needs of the African Americans in Philadelphia, but later became what we today know as AMEC, was founded then on scriptural principles found at Isaiah 58:6-14; James 1:27; Malachi 3:10-12.

Apart from that brief history, what led to me to that was a consideration of why the FAS was started in the first place.

You see, for those who were oppressed with slavery, to be suddenly free caused some to lose their minds.

To go from heavy structure, to no structure at all, many of the freed slaves, those for whom the yoke of bondage was removed, found themselves lost. So the FAS was set up to provide some structure, some guidelines, some rules and they based it upon biblical principles.

(Their start was nondenominational. But as time passes and the hand of leadership changes … So do some things change.) But that is neither here nor there for this thought process.

So in redirection of thought, I am now brought to that remembrance because we were all, all nationalities, born under the yoke of sin – a heavy and unbearable burden.

When Jesus came to earth to die for us and pay that bondage for us; when he got back up with the keys in his hands, the yoke of bondage was broken off of us. We were free.

Yet with no structure, with no rules and regulations, we would then become wild. That freedom with no guide or guidelines would put us in a worse condition.

Some of those early freed slaves experienced that wildness and it hurt them. Some of the freed slaves chose to stay under the house of their original slave owners. And some, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones and others, chose to take up Jesus yoke – to follow Christ by following the principles set forth in the word of God.

This applies today.

The truth is the yoke of sin has been 🔓 unlocked off of us for over 2000 years but some have chosen to stay bound in sin (living a lifestyle that is detrimental to their having an abundant life. See Galatians 5:19-21)

Some have acted wild with their freedoms and have subsequently lost their lives to institutions, jail or death.

Then there are some, like you (who are reading this) and i, who have been wearied of this world and have chosen to give our life to Christ.

The structure we have, the freedom we enjoy within this structure, the hope we have, the joy – GLORY – the abundant life… This is why the Caged Bird sings.

I have taken to watching The Story of Yanxi Palace on YouTube. Initially, I didn’t know why but I was drawn to it. Now I understand why I’m led to watch this.

I see all three situations
*I see the bondage of being born in slavery.
*I see the strong desire and fight to be free, but where being free with no rules and regulations lead you.

• and I see the privilege of how one can enjoy freedom when there is a set structure in place.

I get it now.

While I am grateful for my freedom, and while I will fight to maintain my freedom from the bondage of sin, I have chosen to take onto myself the yoke of Christ Jesus for I have found thst it is kind and light in comparison.

Just let me make this one thing clear.

My yoke is not religion .
My yoke is not a specific denomination .
And my yoke is not to a church.

The yoke I have taken up and put on myself is the yoke of Christ Jesus. The examples in men (not the men or women themselves, but the examples that are set) that I choose to follow is the examples of those who follow Christ in harmony with 1 Corinthians 11:1.

I am jealously protective over my freedom even as Christ is jealously protective of me. (Zechariah 2:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8)

And this is why people cannot just say anything to me today and think I will accept it. If it doesn’t align with God’s Word, the yoke that I wear and am bound with, then I reject it.

2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.

”27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. – John 10:2-5,27

Jesus truly is…
…the reason why this caged Bird sings.

Father thank you.
In the name of Jesus I thank you for your written word.
I thank you for how you teach me.
I thank you for unlocking your Word so that I am not just reading it with my eyes ears and mind, but I am understanding it with my heart.
I thank you that you care enough to want to have a dialogue with your servant.
I thank you that I am more than a servant to you, I am your daughter.
I thank you for the intimacy of relationship
I thank you that our relationship is not dictated by a Sunday morning church service
I thank you for sending Jesus to die for us and for ripping in two the curtain that separated us from you.
I thank you that I don’t need any other sinful human to come before you for me.
I thank you that because of Jesus shed blood for us, I can now freely approach you because Jesus blood covers my sins.
I thank you because you made that possible
I am grateful to Jesus also for being a willing and obedient son to you as Isaac was to Abraham and for his love for us, his passion for us.

Dad I also want to thank you for opening my ears to hear you speak to me thru your Word.

I thank you for your Holy Spirit who guides me to all truth and who is like that yoke for me, keeping me on your path by correcting me if I lean towards going the wrong way.

I thank you for the rest you give me especially when things vex my spirit. I am able to bring that vexation to you and receive instruction from you and correction when needed on how to proceed.

Daddy I really do love being in your presence. I treasure hearing your voice and how your Word opens up and pulls me in. I don’t ever want to lose this.

I choose You.
I choose to have my steps ordered by the Great Shepherd Jesus.
It’s Your Voice alone that I desire to hear and follow.

And I am grateful that on this journey
Even when I couldn’t see
You were right there with me
Guiding me
Even as your Holy Angels were sent ahead of me to prepare the way (Exodus 23:20)

Thank you Daddy.
In Jesus name I thank you with every essence of my being.
I thank you.

Originally written January 7 10:46am. The reason it was held is unknown.