The following is an excerpt from our daily devotional series Fasting and the Heart of God.

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen . . .  and that you break every yoke? (Isaiah 58:6) 

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Have you ever seen a yoke? A yoke is a double harness placed on large animals such as oxen or water buffalo. A yoke can be used on a single animal but is most commonly used to link a pair of animals together. Metaphorically speaking, the Bible often uses the word “yoke” to speak of subjection or servitude. With a yoke in place, even a child may take control over a large powerful water buffalo that is 20 times his size. God has never been into yokes. He is always into freedom. Jesus came ultimately to set us free from sin, death, and from heavy yokes. Instead of our being in an oppressive yoke, He invites to take His yoke, which He said is easy (Matthew 11:28-30).

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An oppressive yoke is something you can’t break on your own. Someone else has to do it for you. That is what Jesus came to do. Attached to yokes of bondage are always heavy burdens that weigh us down and cause us to move slowly in life. What yokes might you have in your life?  How would the Lord desire to set you free?

In the same way, there are people around you with all sorts of yokes that control their lives. They simply aren’t able to break some of them on their own. Sometimes we can actually be the yoke-makers in other people’s lives. We can attach heavy burdens to them and cause them to be subservient to us in various forms. Are there people in your life upon whom you have perhaps placed a yoke of bondage?

What we should be are yoke-breakers. Whether we have created the yoke or someone is struggling with their own yoke we should look for every opportunity to help that person become free. This is the ultimate point of this Scripture. People all around us are pulling heavy burdens due to sin, unforgiveness, guilt, their busy schedules, hatred, jealousy, religious requirements, and so on. Jesus was a yoke-breaker and calls us through this passage to be one as well. Who do you know struggling with a yoke and how can you help?  A yoke-maker or a yoke-breaker, the choice is yours.

In your time seeking God today:

• In your prayer journal, list the yokes in your life that may cause unnecessary burdens or make you subject to them. Then offer the list to the Lord, asking Him to set you free.
• Think of those around you who have yokes in their lives. Ask the Lord to show you what your role might be to be a yoke-breaker in their life.
• Ask God to show you if there is anyone that you may have put a yoke on for any reason. Pray for forgiveness and ask Him to show you how you can break that yoke from that person’s life. One of the first steps is often to ask that person for forgiveness.
• If you are a parent who is trying to lead and influence your children toward a life of righteous living and godly decisions, pray for divine wisdom to impart spiritual principles that they embrace because of their own growing relationship with Christ rather than a list of legalistic rules. That’s not to throw out the absolutes of what is always right and what is always wrong, but their lives will be stronger if they choose for God’s glory than merely for parental favor.

 Related Scripture:

• Matthew 11:29-30; Acts 15:10
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-16; Galatians 5:1

Fasting and the Heart of God Full PDF Version

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