Flying high

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 11:29-30).

You have watched kites flying in the wind. Would you say that the kite string is a burden, something that weighs the kite down? No, the string is there to control the kite. A kite will not fly unless it is in partnership with a string. The string and the kite are yoked together. You cannot cut the string and expect the kite to soar up into the heavens; when the restrictive string is cut, the kite will crash into the ground.

In the same way, the yoke given to us by the Lord Jesus is not burdensome. When we become yoked together with our Lord, we are restricted from enjoying sinful pleasures. But if we let go of Jesus’ yoke, we will not soar up to the heavens; rather, uncontrolled sin will dash us to our graves. We cannot fly unless we are tethered to our Lord Jesus, who keeps us up in every kind of weather, on good days and when life becomes stormy. Living life under Jesus’ gentle but firm control is not burdensome, it is exhilarating! With Jesus in control, we know that we are safe from sin, death, and the attacks of the devil.

A kite string is very light; held in your hand, the string weighs only ounces. Yet that small amount of material can keep the kite aloft indefinitely. The yoke that Jesus lays on us is similarly light; it is light because in our relationship with the Lord He does most of the work, just as the person holding the string does most of the work in keeping the kite flying. He died for us; He forgives us; He builds faith in us; He strengthens us; He encourages us; He heals us; He protects us; He lifts us from our graves and takes us to heaven. And what do we do? We thank Him for our vibrant flight through life, tethered by His Law and Gospel. We invite others to come and meet Him. We help each other as we have the opportunity. That’s all we do, and in even that small amount of work, the Lord is busy supporting and encouraging us as we offer love in response to His love.

The yoke of being under Christ’s control is easy, because that control keeps us soaring through life; it is only by being connected to the Savior that we are kept from crashing into the eternal blackness of the grave.