The following sentences taken from With Christ in Palestine, by A. T.

Schofield, M.D., are suggestive:

'I was looking at a very good commentary as to what "yoke" is supposed

to mean here, and I found it means "fellowship, restraint, and

subjection".  No doubt these are three minor uses of a yoke ... but the

chief great primary use of a "yoke" is seldom grasped by Christian

people; most are so occupied with the secondary uses I have named that

its great purpose is entirely missed.  A yoke first of all is a

contrivance to enable oxen to pull a load along the road or across the

field; "yoke" is simply another word for "harness".  Harness is not put

upon an animal primarily for subjection or restraint or fellowship; it

is put on to enable it to draw a load.

Speaking now for a moment as a physician who sees a great many nervous

and broken -down people of all sorts, I find that the greater number

are not only sick in their bodies, but also sick in their minds, and

what they mostly suffer from is a complaint which I call "sore neck".

What, then, has made the neck sore?  It is that the collar either does

not fit, or it has not been properly padded ... Christ has come to us

and says, It is not enough for you to come to Me as weary and heavy

laden and find rest for your conscience in Myself; you want some means

of shielding your heart from all the petty worries and troubles ... and

all the contrariety and meaningless vexations of this world of sorrow

... When the yoke is easy then the burden is light.

What, then, is this yoke padded with?  The two materials mentioned are

meekness and lowliness of heart ... I take it, meekness is our attitude

towards man, and lowliness is the attitude towards God'.

It is something of this that we find in Exodus 33:15: 'And he (Moses)

said unto Him, If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence'.  Now

it is in connection with the very fact that the Lord had spoken to Moses face

to face, that we meet the statement: 'Now the man Moses was very meek, above

all the men which were upon the face of the earth' (Num. 12:3).  It is

evident that this meekness is displayed on many occasions when lesser souls

would have given way to impatience.  But alas for human nature! the meekest

man on earth spoke unadvisedly with his lips and failed; One only could ever

be the 'perfecter of faith'.

It is the custom in most meetings to 'open with prayer', and this is

well, for it manifests the sense of dependence that all should feel.  It

expresses the utter need of the Lord's guidance, teaching and blessing,

without which service is vain, and it does, or should, bring every heart into

loyal and loving subjection to the Lord of life and glory, that from

unfeigned lips may ascend the prayer: 'Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth'.

There have been occasions, however, when it has been felt that those

who were engaging in prayer needed some check, some anchor, some leading, and

it will often be found a great help if, before prayer is actually made, some

portion of the Scriptures be read which shall steady and direct the thoughts

in a true and right channel.  It may help some of our readers who have the

responsibility of meetings if we briefly record one or two passages of