The Yoke That Frees

 

 

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up, then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.                                                                                                               Matthew 13:44

 

It’s so simple. You see the kingdom. You're convinced that the kingdom is the only thing in this world that is worth living for or dying for, you turn your back on everything else and pursue the kingdom with all your heart.

 

So the disciples forsook everything and followed Jesus.

 

Mary Magdalene turned her back on her old life and followed Jesus.

 

Zaccheus, the tax collector, gave half his goods to the poor; he restored four-fold to everyone he had defrauded, and entered the kingdom by following Jesus.

 

That's what we want to do. We want to be that man, that woman who sees the treasure and in great joy sells everything they have and buys the field.

 

We want our faith in Jesus to be simple, clear, radical, total, absolute. We want to spend our lives for God. We want to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him.

 

We do not want to be conformed to this world. We want to be transformed by the renewal of our minds, that we may be able to demonstrate what is the good, perfect, and acceptable will of God.

 

But after that brief, bright season of joy, and vision — after the honeymoon, when it was so wonderful to be obsessed with God’s love, when we were almost blinded by the glory, so full of joy, and so flooded with God’s peace — practical considerations began to roll back in, fantasies began to return, our attachment to loved ones, friends who were not on fire for the kingdom of God, began to weigh us down.

 

"Lord, how do I live for the kingdom with all my heart, when I still have to pay the rent, buy groceries, figure out how to keep the car going? How do I live for the kingdom with all my heart when my mind is attacked by vanity, greed, lust, ungodly anger? How do I keep pursuing the kingdom of God when the people that I love, are still in love with this world?"

 

The answer from the Spirit of the Lord is simple — Break every yoke that binds you to this world and pursue the kingdom with all your heart.

 

"If your right hand offends you, cut it off. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

Break the yoke that binds you to this world and press on.

 

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever.                         1 John 2:15

 

Our loved ones and friends are walking a different road, and we are to pray for them and love them; we are to lay down our lives for them, but we cannot leave our kingdom pursuit and walk their road.

 

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers (that is, people who are rejecting the kingdom) for what partnership has righteousness with iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; for God said,

 

"I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; and then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

 

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.

                                                           2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1

 

Hard…hard words.

 

"Lord, I don’t even know if I understand them and I don’t see how I can do them."

 

When we’re having trouble forsaking everything—selling all that we have to buy the field with the treasure—it is always a sign that we have begun to lose our vision of the treasure.

 

The power to sell everything and buy the field comes from seeing the treasure. When I see the treasure of the kingdom, then I can easily divest myself of the things that distract me.

 

When I lose sight of the treasure, that's when I get bogged down with anxieties, temptations, and divided loyalties.

 

If we are to have hearts that are pure, we need to see the treasure of the kingdom clearly. And to see the treasure three things are necessary:

 

1. God reveals the treasure of his kingdom to those who humble themselves and become as babies.

 

2. Jesus reveals this treasure of the kingdom of God to those who, having humbled themselves and become babes, draw near to him.

 

3. Every yoke that binds us to this world crumbles, and becomes as dust, when we get under the yoke of Jesus.

 

First, God reveals the treasure of his kingdom CLEARLY to those who humble themselves and become babes.

 

At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was your gracious will."                            Matthew 11:25

 

Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes…

 

Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, looking for something—trying to find answers. "Rabbi, we know you’re a teacher that comes from God, nobody can do these things these works that you do unless God is with him..."

 

But Nicodemus could not see the kingdom. So Jesus said. "Listen to me: unless a person is born again they cannot see the kingdom of God."

 

Nicodemus possessed what was considered to be great knowledge. He was an upright man, a leader in Israel, a disciplined teacher, but he lacked a child-like heart. His "knowledge" was blinding him.

 

The disciples, by contrast, were mixed up. Their lives were never in order the way Nicodemus’ life was in order. They were not as disciplined, but there was one thing the disciples had which Nicodemus lacked, they were babes.

 

They were humble, they were open, they were teachable. And so the Father was able to open their eyes to see who Jesus was, they could recognize the treasure of the kingdom.

 

Of course, it didn’t take very long before these men began to rely on their new-found knowledge of the things of God—instead of on the One who was its source. And now these "babes" are arguing over which of them is the greatest!

 

So Jesus has to take a child and put it in their midst and say, "Unless you repent and become like this child you will never enter the kingdom of God." He had to call them back to childlikeness again and again.

 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 

"He who humbles himself will be exalted: and he who exalts himself will be abased."

 

When we first began to experience the power of the kingdom of God, each of us was a babe. We were humbled and broken—we were teachable, we were children.

 

But as we increased in our knowledge of the things of God, we began to put confidence in our knowledge instead of in God himself—very subtly we were invaded by a spirit of arrogance. That arrogance is what blinds us to the glory of the kingdom of heaven, the treasure.

 

Of course, we don’t think of ourselves as arrogant.  And yet our arrogant spirit manifests itself as impatience—impatience with the babes.

 

"I just get sick and tired when they shoot off their mouths all the time."

 

"I can’t stand to go to that meeting…all they do is get up and talk about their problems."

 

"I’m beyond that now…I want to get into the real meat of the Word."

 

Who of us doesn’t manifest this attitude at times? And we wonder why we are so dry. 

 

A spirit of arrogance manifests itself as criticism—criticism of almost everything that’s going on. This is wrong, that is wrong, he’s wrong, she’s wrong…everybody is wrong.   Arrogance.

 

As long as this spirit of arrogance inhabits my heart, I cannot see the treasure. I find it hard to pluck out the offending eye, or to cut off the offending hand, to distinguish between God and mammon. I’m confused.

 

If I want to come back to a place of vision, I have to empty myself of this arrogant spirit and become a child.

 

"I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent (the arrogant) and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was (and is) Thy gracious will."

 

Secondly, Jesus reveals the treasure of the kingdom to those who, having humbled themselves and become babes, draw near to him.

 

"All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."                                                                          Matthew 11: 27-28

 

When we’re having trouble cutting off the offending hand, plucking out the offending eye, distinguishing between God and mammon; when we are confused, or burdened, it is because we are not seeing the treasure.

 

Before we start cutting and plucking, we need to draw near to Jesus and get light from him.  

 

"Lord, I just want to see you."

 

So I call on his name. I sit down and pull the New Testament off the shelf and read one of the four gospels with the prayer: "Lord God, let me see your Son afresh." "I just want to see you, Lord Jesus!"

 

Perhaps I gather with brothers and sisters and I ask them to pray with me so that I can, once again, see the Master.

 

Now the Lord Jesus begins to reveal the treasure of his kingdom to me afresh. Seeing the treasure again, as he holds it out to me, I find rest, because the treasure is all I need.

 

Maybe I’ve been all bogged down and burdened and troubled over my lack of achievement. "Here I am 21 years old and what have I accomplished?" Or, "Seventy-one years old and what have I accomplished?" Or ninety-one…

 

When I see the treasure what does it matter what I think I've accomplished? The treasure is all that matters.

 

If I get burdened with anxieties about the future—"What if I won’t be able to pay off the mortgage?" "Will I have enough money when this car wears out to buy another one?"—all I need is to see the treasure.  For if I see the treasure of the kingdom I know that, as I seek the kingdom, I will soon have everything I need and more!   "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

 

"He makes me to lie down in green pastures." He gives me the Sabbath rest, and that Sabbath rest is not just one day a week—it’s seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the kingdom.

 

"He leads me beside the still waters", which are peace. That peace I yearn for which is found here in his kingdom and nowhere else.

 

"He restores my soul." He brings me resurrection life and lifts me up in the kingdom.

 

"He makes me to walk in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake." And the paths of righteousness are the kingdom.

  

Finally, every yoke that binds us to this world will crumble when we get under the yoke with Jesus.

 

"Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and lowly of heart and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-29

 

The yoke that binds us to this world is always heavy.

The yoke that binds us to Jesus is always light.

                                       

The yoke that binds us to this world is always enslaving.

The yoke that binds us to Jesus always sets us free.

 

The yoke of this world has me bound so that I can hardly make a decision, I don’t know what I’m doing. My mind is confused. I find myself in a prison. I’m rattling those bars and I can’t seem to get out.

 

Then Jesus comes into my cell, invites me to draw near to him and get under his yoke. The minute I get under the yoke with him, the door of the cell opens and we walk out together into freedom.

 

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up, then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.                                                                                                               Matthew 13:44

 

To be able to "sell all we have and buy the field"  we have to see the treasure. And to see the treasure we have to empty ourselves of our arrogance and become children.

 

Having become children, we need to draw near to the Lord himself.

 

If we place ourselves under his yoke, every "yoke" that binds us to this world will break,

 

and we will be free to joyfully go out and sell all that we have and buy the field.

 

 

 

HOME PAGE

OTHER PUBLICATIONS