For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." – Matthew 11:30

Today's Scripture Reading (November 8, 2020): Matthew 11

Helen Keller said, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." So much of life depends on the people that we gather around us. Winning rarely depends on what you can do. It depends on how hard your team is willing to work and how committed they are to the task set in front of them. A successful organization is never the result of a great leader. The root cause of success is always the team that has gathered to get the job done.

This journey through life was never intended to be one that we walk alone. The first story of the Bible tells a tale of Adam being created by God, and in the process, his Creator declares that his creation should not be alone. "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him'" (Genesis 2:18). What was true for Adam remains true for us. We need people to walk with us into our uncertain future.

The biblical message is never that life is easy. Life is hard, and it is because it is demanding that we are meant to journey through it together. Jesus tells his followers that his "yoke is easy," and his "burden is light." The idea is one that his followers would have quickly understood. The yoke was a common sight around Palestine during the ministry of Jesus. It was a wooden crosspiece that was fastened over two animals' necks as the animals plowed a field or pulled a cart. The word "easy" could easily be translated as "well-fitting." And the fit of the yoke was important. An Ill-fitting yoke could produce sores and made the load heavier than it needed to be. An ill-fitting yoke never made the load easy to pull.

Farmers would also often team up a younger animal with an older, more experienced one as they were put to work in the field. The idea was that the older animal would shoulder most of the load as the younger animal learned what it needed to do as part of the team, placed together by the yoke. And as the younger animal learned what was expected of it, the load actually got lighter.

Jesus tells his followers that his yoke was easy; his yoke fits well. And the burden was light. Our problem with the phrasing is that it is so foreign to our daily lives. Most of us don't live in agricultural communities, and few are forced to carry burdens that we do not want to bear. But the original hearers of Jesus's message were all too familiar with both of these concepts. And Jesus's message is that he is willing to yoke with us at the task that is set before us. He is ready to pull with us, sometimes carrying us as we learn how to complete the job. Because the work set before is hard, and we can't do it alone. But together, with the help of Jesus working alongside us, we can change the world, making it a much better place for all of us to live.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 7