You might have to go back and read "I Am an Ox" to get some of this.
http://haslemhome.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-am-ox.html
I am awake rather early this Sunday morning. Awake and can't sleep because I have some thoughts spinning around in my head that I can't seem to shake. Honestly, this is an opportunity ( the chance and reason to sit down and write something new and old) I have been praying and waiting for, just wondering why God would wake me this early in the morning, and not let me sleep. Yet, I am awake none the less. So...
Quite a few relationships, especially the guy/girl kind within the Christian world, are measured against the principal of equally yoked. "You two shouldn't be dating, you're not equally yoked..." generally means that one of the two primary people in the relationship are not Christian, or not walking a very straight Christian life. When we see such a relationship transpiring, we Christians like to toss in our two cents and piece of advice. Yet, I often feel that the words of wisdom are given without ever having questioned "Why?" and "Why is it there?" In other words, "Why would God give us a principal such as, equally yoked? and how does it apply in my life?" ( My son's favorite question is, "Why not, what happens if I....?") I personally feel, if we can find the answer to this question, and we understand the consequences involved, then we at least know what we were getting into when we chose to violate a principal God has placed before us. And I also like the Ox analogy, there is so much buried within it that we can find and apply to understanding our own lives.
So, equally yoked...
First, lets take a look back at a yoke, its purpose, and how it applies to our lives. A yoke is used to direct a beast of burden. More specifically, it controls the head by weighing down the neck. A very powerful and stubborn animal can be easily directed with slight tugs and pulls to the reigns that are attached to a yoke. And believe me, we are very powerful and stubborn animals. We humans are probably the smartest idiots and most stubborn and willing creatures. If a yoke is used to direct an animals path, what is our yoke? What is used to direct our path? Keep in mind, we ARE beasts of burden, we don't get to decide if we are yoked or not. Just, who's yoke will we carry, who is pulling at our reigns? And the simple truth of the matter is, there are only two masters in this world. Who's yoke are you carrying? The answer is simple to find. What motivates your actions and attitudes? "Only three things remain, faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love." If you don't recognize this phrase, and if you don't understand its meaning, I can tell you who your master is. I can't tell you what your yoke is, because that master has a wide variety of yokes to weigh us down and direct our path. If you do recognize this phrase, and you understand it meaning, then I can tell you who your master is as well. And I can tell you what your yoke is...its LOVE. Love motivates your actions, and is used to help direct your path. ( side note: "He will make your path straight...and he shall direct your path...all common phrases. Apply them to being an Ox with a yoke, and your path becomes the furrows of a field. Are your furrows straight and narrow and directed by Him?)
If our yoke is love, then what are all of these other burdens that we think we carry each and every day? For an ox, the yoke is not what makes his work difficult. It is not what he labors against. It is the conditions of the field that makes things easy or hard. A field full of rocks and roots and deep set clay will make pulling a plow very laborious and difficult to tread through. Holes and hard stumps can make us turn an ankle or stumble and fall. A good master walks before his animals, clearing out rocks and debris, stopping them when a stump is in the way, and helping them pull when the soil becomes hard to pull thru. A not so kind master will become angered and forceful when their animal stumbles or falls and will drive animals into the ground before they will lend a hand.
So, if our yoke is love, and the difficulties and joys of life are the conditions of the soil in our field. What is our field? And that one is easy, Life. Imagine that each furrow you make is a day in you life. Got a boss that is hard to work with? That's a root in the ground that you will come across each and every day, but take heart, roots don't last forever. A day will come when the furrow you are plowing won't hit that root any more. And also take heart that God knew that root was there, He planted the tree that put it there. Even if your not carrying His yoke, He still planted the tree that put it there, and He knew you would come across it. Experiencing a time of joy and ease? Thats some nice fresh soil that is sweet and soft and easy to plow. It can be found in almost any field, reserve your strength and enjoy the patch. Gain strength in it, because, just as the root won't last forever, easy soil is only for a time as well. And yes, God knew you would come across it also. He went before you and picked out the rocks, pulled the weeds, watered it a little, and broke up the crusted top. He knew you would need it. And yes, He did this for you even if it is not His yoke you are carrying.
So, if life is the field we plow, joy and sorrow are the conditions of the soil, what does it mean to be equally yoked, and why is it important? Once again, the answer to these questions will prepare us for what is to come. At least we know what we are getting into. First and foremost, if we are equally yoked, then we have the same master. If Christ is our master, then He has only one type of yoke. If Christ is not our master, then it is possible that we can be given the same type of yoke. (Though chances of this are slim) This makes plowing a field a whole lot easier. Can you imagine a team of oxen plowing a field where two separate masters are directing the path. One ox has a kind gentle master directing its path, making it straight and preparing the way before it. While the other ox has a slave driver, screaming and demanding compliance. The first ox will begin to feel the weight of its team mate as the second ox begins to slow and drag under the burden of its yoke and master. The rest of the field will become very difficult regardless of the soil conditions, and the first ox will have to work much harder to finish row after row. While the second ox will begin to falter under the weight of its yoke and the relentless drive of its master. Even though the second ox may pride itself in the amount of weight it is capable of barring, it will see the lite and easy burden of the first ox and begin to feel jealous, and begin to tire. Both are points of friction that can cause damage. The first ox may feel strained and tired by having to not only pull the plow thru a field, but may also feel the burden of pulling its partner thru the field as well. The second ox may become strained and tired of the burden it has to bare along with the plowing and the driving master. Both become tired before the field is finished.
Now there is a second principal in the understanding of being equally yoked. The yoke is one means of balancing out a team of oxen. But the size and strength of the oxen being joined is another means of balancing out a team. Imagine a strong mature ox and a young immature ox being joined together. The older ox may tire early from having to carry the load of the weaker ox. The weaker ox may tire early from trying to keep up with the stronger one. And yet, both oxen can have the same master and the same type of yoke, but still be unequally yoked. Once again, this can lead to a condition where both oxen tire early from trying counter the imbalance. And yet, in both conditions the field must still be plowed.
(side note: how can two people share the same field if the field is "my" life? Remember, once two lives are joined together, they become one life. "And the two shall become one." The joys and sorrows experienced by one are shared with the other. This is also why trying to make two fields out of what has become one field is very very difficult. How do you do it?)
And now the daunting condition. Unlike oxen in a pen, we get to choose if and with whom we become teamed up with. Our master may present to us partners that are best candidates, but we still get to choose. Does your partner and mate have another master, and now you are beginning to tire because your partner is exasperated? You chose them, of all that were presented to you, you picked one from another pen. If Christ is your master, then he is still with you, walking before you, preparing the way and directing your path, and he will even help you pull the plow. But He can't direct the path of your partner. At the end of each furrow and during the row, He might step over and give them a rub, and a quiet whisper, but He isn't pulling on their reigns...yet. Is your partner stronger and more mature, and you are struggling to keep up? Are you the stronger one and now you feel that you are pulling more than your mate? You knew what you were getting into before you picked them, or you chose not to measure them up and see how equal they were. Either way, you are now a team, your fields have been formed into one.
Not a team yet, but wondering if you want to be? Do you share the same master? Are your yokes of equal size and weight, are you of an equal size and weight to each other (this has little or nothing to do with physical size and weight. How equal are you in human and spiritual maturity?) If all things be equal and you enjoy each others company, then plowing your field will be easier. If there is an imbalance, just know, plowing a field is already labor intensive, even when Christ is your master and love is your yoke. Don't think for one second that having an imbalance will make things easier. But the real question is, are you prepared to work even harder? And don't forget, when that day comes, you were asked this question and said, " yes."
(side note: Though I can't see all of the rows I have plowed in my life, the fun part is knowing that my master was dropping seeds into them as we plowed the next one. Over time, those seeds have started to grow. Sometimes I get to munch on the fruit that grows from the plants of those seeds. Most of the time, I can't see very far beyond the wall of plants growing a few rows over. But its nice to know that something is growing in the rows I, and for sometime now...we, got to help plow.)
