Archive for June, 2009
Beasts of Burden
The oxen strained against the weight of the loaded wagon. Just over the hill water, feed, and rest. But for now, the oxen stepped into the yoke, responding to the lash of the whip as the driver flicked it across their backs. Relentlessly, they plodded on; just a little farther and they’d be home.
Now put yourself in the place of the oxen. You say, “No way.” But consider this: “These things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together, they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. ‘Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save’” (Isaiah 46:1a-4 ESV).
God is confronting Israel, once again, through the prophet Isaiah about their propensity to idolatry. It seemed they would never learn. In this Scripture God says the Children of Israel are like weary beasts and the idols are as heavy burdens they struggle to carry. They are weary and miserable, toiling their life through with no relief from the terrible weight they carry. In essence, God says they have become captives to the burdens they bear.
But God comes right back with the assertion that He has carried them from before their birth, from the womb, even into old age. He declares He made them and He will bear them up; He will carry them.
What a contrast! Oh the freedom that is ours if we simply unyoke ourselves from whatever it is that is strapped to our backs and climb up into the arms of the gentle Shepherd. He will carry all who will come to Him.
The stallion stops and sniffs the wind. Turning quickly, he gallops across the plain, his mane glinting in the brightness of the mid-day sun. His mares race after him. No one rides their backs; no one has harnessed them to a wagon or a plow. No toil; no worries; no troubles. Just complete freedom.
Which had you rather be–the ox, a beast of burden, or the stallion enjoying the unbridled freedom of the open range?
Grams
