“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”

Matthew 7:24-25 (NIV)

Hearing and doing – those of us who have children or who teach or care for children know that there is a vast difference between hearing what you’re told and doing what you’re told. We are also keenly aware that having knowledge does not always result in using that knowledge to make sound decisions.

Just as it is with our children, so too is it with us as children of God. At church services, in Bible study, through Christian fellowship, we hear the truth of God: His plans for His people, how He would have us think and act and live. Many believers and nonbelievers alike can list the core values and tenets of Christianity, but knowing God’s truth, being aware of Christ’s teachings, does not automatically result in sound decision making or Christ-like living.

When we accept Christ as our Savior and ask for forgiveness of sin and commit to following Him, we are made new, but as we all know, new is not the same as perfect (II Corinthians 5:17). Salvation gives us new life, new hope, and a new direction, but we must still choose between the world and the Lord every moment of every day in all things.

In Matthew 11:28-30, the words of Christ are recorded; He tells those who would follow Him that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. While it likely that Christ spoke of the garment that a teacher wore which his students also wore to show whom they followed, we tend to think in modern times of a yoke between oxen or horses. Being yoked in that sense is much like running in a three legged race, one member cannot go unless the other member goes too; if one stops, both must stop. The two must work in unity or nothing gets accomplished.

Christ tells us that His yoke is light because He is a gentle teacher, but in choosing to wear the yoke we must commit ourselves to being His students, to following His lead. If we constantly push and pull against Him, our partner in this race, then we will bruise ourselves against the yoke and struggle to accomplish any of the great and wondrous achievements that God has earmarked specifically for our lives.

We can hear Christ’s leading all day long, but if we do not act on it, then we do not mature personally and we do not further the Father’s Kingdom .

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James 1:22

As we move further into 2023, I encourage you to ask yourself, “Am I working with God to accomplish what He desires, or am I stubbornly pulling and twisting against the plans that God has for me?”.

I can tell you that I have done both in my life.

I have been the stubborn ox who resisted direction, drug its feet, and threw its gaze everywhere but where Christ was leading me. It’s not a pretty picture. I delayed working on what God had set aside for me, missed blessings and opportunities for His Kingdom work, and bloodied my own hide in the process.

I have also lived in accordance with Christ’s teachings and purposely listened for His direction and followed His lead. It is in those times, times of fellowship with and obedience to the Lord, that I have found the most joy, the most satisfaction, the most wonder. The yoke of the Lord truly is light when we stop resisting Him and work with Him in unity. The work is not always easy, but when we pull alongside Christ, He gives us the strength to do the work and the endurance to keep pulling (Isaiah 40:31, Philippians 4:13, Psalm 28:7).

Beloved, when the storms come and our eyes are blinded by the wind and rain and our feet find themselves in the mud and mire, there is no safer place to be than yoked to the side of the Son of God. In Him our foundation is strong. By His strength we will not fall.