“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
During 2026, Peachtree Church is inviting everyone into Cultivate, a churchwide discipleship plan centered on the fruit of the Spirit and the kind of life God longs to grow in us. Throughout the year, we’ll explore how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control take shape in everyday life through the Spirit’s work. Cultivate brings together worship, Scripture, group guides, and meaningful practices designed to meet you where you are and support growth in ways that fit your season. These twice-weekly devotionals are one way to stay connected, offering reflection and grounding for daily life with God. Whether you engage in many ways or just one, you’re invited to be part of this shared journey of becoming more rooted in who God has created and called you to be.
Devotional
Last Sunday morning, I was in the midst of my morning prayer time, when I simply felt overwhelmed. It was a moment where I knew exactly what was bothering me, and I even knew that all of the different somethings that were on my plate were out of my control, yet it was not something that I could simply give up to God. So, I spent the majority of my prayer time differently than I had planned and spent that time laying out the layers of complexity that were weighing me down. As I came to the end of that time, there were two passages that kept resonating within my mind: the scripture from Matthew upon which Wes preached yesterday, and the words of the 13th Psalm that begins with the words, “How long, Lord?”
What has always been so helpful for me about Jesus’ words in Matthew 11 is the invitation that he offers, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” For most of us, the imagery of a yoke is something that we see simply as a farming implement, and we see it as a burden that is part of the work of plowing a field or pulling a wagon. While yokes do allow for these activities, what makes them such helpful implements is that they allow for two animals to pull together, to work together towards a common goal that would much more difficult to accomplish as an individual or as two unyoked animals.
Jesus’ call in this passage is one that is not only to be yoked to him, but there is that second clause in the invitation, “learn from me.” Jesus desires that we would learn how to function when we are yoked to him, not as we try to pull away from him and the call that he has placed upon our lives, but rather as being able to pull with him in the works that we are to accomplish. It is helpful for us to remember that we need to learn from Jesus what it looks like to follow him.
The challenge for so many of us lies in what we think it means to follow Jesus, as a set of rules and regulations that we wish to accomplish, rather than a relationship between ourselves and God incarnate. When I think about following him in this manner, I realize that he is inviting me to be yoked to himself, to the one who allows us to know in fullness what it means to be God and to be human.
For Reflection
- How has your view of being invited into a yoked relationship with Jesus changed during your life?
- What do you think that Jesus desires to teach you in this season of your life?
Prayer
Lord God, help me to accept the yoke that you offer to me. Help me to see this invitation not as a burden to be endured but as the manner in which you lift a great weight from my shoulders. Draw me closer to you that I might come to truly understand what it means to take your yoke upon myself. Amen.
