Yokes

This is my last day reading in the book of Leviticus.  It has been a rich and rewarding experience and this is a most fitting end to my reading!

Leviticus 26:13b I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

I love this word picture of what God does when He frees a person from slavery, whether literal slavery such as He did for the Israelites, or spiritual slavery.  A yoke is burdensome not only by its restriction of freedom of movement, but also because of the heavy load it puts on your shoulders.  You can barely stand up straight with a yoke on your shoulders and it is certainly a humiliating posture.  But when God breaks that yoke, I can stand up straight and I can hold my head up high!  No need to be ashamed of myself or of what God has done.  I am able to accomplish all of what God wants to do in me and through me when He has broken the bars of my yoke of sin.  This reminds me of what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 11:30: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”   With Jesus in my life I will still be able to walk with my head held high because His new yoke is not burdensome or humiliating.  It merely helps me stay on the right road and go in the right direction.  I have a wonderful Savior and salvation!