Matthew 11:28-30   Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” –ESV

                    Empty Promises Of An Easy Yoke

How often has the enemy come to us promising basically what Jesus claims for Himself here? How often do we fall for it? So many times we are presented with two options when making decisions. An easy one and one that seems difficult. It is during these times the enemy might whisper that God is in the business of making us suffer. The difficult road is the right one many times, so therefore it must be so.

But as many times as we have taken the easy road, we have discovered it to be a trick and a trap. Unfortunately, many of us have to learn the hard way, that ultimately the enemy has a hard yoke and a heavy burden. So it really wasn’t an easy road after all, we discover after walking it for only a short time usually. But by that time the enemy has drawn his net around us and we are in a predicament. It was an illusion and a lie. But so is the promise of difficulty on the right road. 

Not that the way isn’t difficult—it certainly is—for most of us. But the difficulty does not come from Jesus. I have found that when I am presented with decisions, there is a barrier of difficulty that presents itself on the entrance of the road that is right. And there seems to be no barrier at all on the road that is wrong. 

In the same way that there is an illusion to going down the wrong path, I have found the difficulty that presents itself on the right path is an illusion also. And beyond the illusion is Jesus. 

                                 The Road Blocks

It feels easy going down the wrong path at first. And it feels hard going down the right path at first sometimes. But it all depends on our focus. Is our flesh alive? How much influence does the world have on us? How much quarter have we given to the devil? All three of those will cry out against us as we put our toes on the right path. So really if our flesh is crying out against us doing the right thing, is it Jesus who is making us suffer? No, it’s our corrupt flesh. We blame it on Jesus because we received the suffering on the same road He is on.

Or if we have demons whispering threats of what calamity will befall us if we do the right thing, is Jesus making us suffer? Obviously not, it is the tormentors. 

If the world system dazzles us with it’s glamor and mocks us and tells us what all we will lose out on if we do the right thing, is Jesus inflicting punishment on us for doing it? Once again the answer is no. Jesus never punishes us for doing the right thing. He never turns us away if we truly seek Him. But we need to die to ourselves, resist the world and the devil and focus only on Jesus. Once we do those things, which do create suffering, then we come to Jesus, the Prince of Peace. And He puts on us an easy yoke and a light burden.

                                       conclusion

The degree of suffering we experience in getting to Jesus all depends on how much we are looking to the world the flesh or the devil. If we are looking to any of them with any trust at all, our yoke will be hard and our burden heavy until we make it to Jesus. Whatever we worship, intentionally or unintentionally, will have dominion over us. And only Jesus can keep the promise of an easy yoke and a light burden. Everything else we worship will bring a world of hurt.

Also, let’s be careful to remember that these things only apply to those who are seeking Jesus. God’s wrath and judgement are real, but they do not fall on those who are seeking Him with a true heart.