October 6, 2018
I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:
TO BREAK OUR YOKE
Jeremiah 2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
How wonderful to know that God has broken the yoke of sin that formerly enslaved us. It was a heavy yoke. It was heavier than we could possibly bear. We are now, however, free because of the blood of Christ. We serve a new master. His yoke is different:
* Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
You would think that because of that, we would be so grateful, that we would never want to go back under the bondage of sin. God says in verse twenty that Judah said that they would “not transgress”. That is not how it turned out. God says, on “every hill” and under “every green tree”, they wandered away. Literally, they rebelled at every chance they could. God even goes so far to say that they played the “harlot”. That is strong language. They were unfaithful to God.
In the next verse, God said that He offered a new start, a new lineage, and a new life. But God said that instead of growing in it and taking that opportunity, they “turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me”. Maybe you are asking, “what does this have to do with me?”
If you have been saved by the grace of God, God has broken the chains that used to bind us. God has lifted the yoke that used to imprison us. God has planted a new seed, given us a new family tree, and a whole new opportunity at life. He is “the vine” and we “are the branches”. What a gift! What a chance! What an opportunity! Yet somehow, we all at times end up heading right back to where we were.
Years ago, I purchased a little house in Winston Salem, North Carolina. I had been living in a house that was owned by the church I worked at. I had lived there about six months. One day I had gotten done doing some visiting and I headed home. Before I realized it, I had pulled into the driveway of my old house. The new house which is bigger, nicer, and had furniture, was a few miles away. There was no good reason to go back to that old house. I had a nicer place to live now. There was no refrigerator, no food, no furniture at this old house. But I went back there. Why? It was habit. I had done it for so long that without thinking I went right back to it. That is how sin can be for us. I encourage you today, God has broken that yolk. Let’s not wander away at every hill and every green tree. Let’s grow this “right seed” and grow on this “noble vine”.