The Danger of Being Unequally Yoked!
Deuteronomy 22
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, December 23.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “unequally yoked” and wondered what it meant?
Deuteronomy 22:10 is the beginning point of this conversation in the Bible,
“You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.”
A yoke is an agricultural device used to combine multiple animals in the working of the fields. While it is no longer a common site in most modern-day farming, seeing animals yoked together would have been a six-day-per-week reality during Bible times. The command to not yoke two unequal animals was given to protect both animals from hurting one another, but to especially protect the weaker of the two.
The unequally yoked relationship is not only a dangerous partnership, but also an unproductive union. Just as the animals would not work together for the common reason they were yoked, unequally yoked people spend most of their time fighting against the yoke that seeks to bind them together, rather than working in harmony for the reason they were brought in union (2 Corinthians 6:14)!
Jesus invites all who would follow Him to come into His yoke in Matthew 11:29-30,
“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.”
We are to learn from Him and become like Him in union with Him.
The yoke of Jesus is what transforms us into His image and unites us to His mission. His yoke is custom-made, so that you do not suffer under His teachings and commandments. His yoke unites us with one another as the one body of Christ and empowers our life together. All other yokes cause suffering and lead to divisions between people.
Seize the moment and find rest for your soul and partnership with fellow believers in the easy yoke of Jesus!
God bless you!
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