By Elder Yoon Hwan Choi
Elder Paul V. Johnson taught us: “When we follow Satan, we give him power. When we follow God, He gives us power.”
President Nelson also taught: “Yoking yourself with the Savior means you have access to His strength and redeeming power.”
Matt 11:28-30
Being yoked with Christ is one of my favorite analogies. There's so much more to it than just sharing the load. I taught a lesson on Matthew 11 and learned so much about animals being yoked together. It changed how I thought about being yoked with Christ.
1. The animal has to be willing. Me. I'm the animal. Christ is willing. It's me that causes a ruckus. There's a story about pioneers that were trying to yoke wild oxen. They'd get one in and it would go running off dragging the yoke and making things crazy. (Service in the Church By Elder Spencer H. Osborn, October 1984)
2. Who yokes us? If you’ve watched oxen being yoked, there's a third party we never talk about, the teamster (person who owns and handles the oxen team). God created this system. He is in charge. The animals both trust the teamster. They do his will. The teamster makes sure the yoke fits and doesn’t harm the animals. He makes sure it's not to heavy, too tight or too loose, is carved correctly to fit each individual animal, the harnesses and chains need to be the correct length and fit. There really is a lot of detail that the teamster has to check and regulate to keep the oxen safe. He then guides the team in where to go and what to pull. He makes sure they're fed, cared for, etc. He has spent time training them and preparing them for anything he asks them to do. So often, we focus on our part. We get narrow sighted and see only our load and our effort. We totally forget that the master teamster has it all under control if we just trust Him. It's important that we pull with Christ but we have to trust our Father to steer.
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