“Say,
‘Yes,’ Granny. Say, ‘Yes!’”
“Say, ‘Yes,’ Granny. Say, ‘Yes!’”
His image is seared into my mind forever—my four year old
grandson looking up at me—with huge brown eyes and raised eye brows, yearning
for a positive response. As any self-respecting granny would, I looked
adoringly at his face wanting to say, “Yes,” but he had not yet stated his
request.
So before giving an answer, I had to say, “What is it,
William? What do you want, you precious darling?”
I believe God says to us, “Say ‘Yes,’ (insert your name).
Say ‘Yes!’” And, hey, He may even add, “you precious darling.” When God calls our names to follow Him
initially and when He gives a specific directive, He wants our response to be, “Yes.”
And just like William, sometimes our Lord wants us to
say, “Yes,” even before we know what He wants us to do.
We must be convinced that when we say, “Yes,” to the
Lord, it’s for our good.
We must know, in the depths of our being, that when we
say, “Yes,” to our Creator, we open up the door to our destiny.
When Jesus called His disciples to follow Him they each
said, “Yes,” immediately, knowing little about to what they were agreeing. But
in their hearts, they knew they could trust Him.
Matthew tells us,
“While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two
brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net
into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I
will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed
him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of
Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending
their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father
and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-22 ESV).
We don’t know what is weighing in the balance by our
answer. But God knows.
We don’t know what hardship or blessing will result from
our answer. But God knows.
What if Peter, Andrew, James, and John had said, “No,”
when Jesus said “Follow Me.” Each would have closed the door to his
God-ordained destiny.
Are you aware that you have a God-ordained destiny? God
knows each of our names and we’re each called to follow Jesus. He has a plan
and purpose for each of our lives (Jeremiah 29:11).
When we say, “Yes,” and believe and receive Jesus, we’re
taking the first step into our God-ordained destiny. That first step, though,
is not the end-all. Yes, it
determines our eternal home but it’s just the beginning of our walk with the
Lord.
Over and again, we need to say, “Yes,” to the call of
Christ. Each time we do, we’re stepping further into our destiny and deeper
into our relationship with Jesus.
As we trust Him with more, He trusts us with more. I repeat:
As we trust Him with more, He trusts us
with more.
“He who is faithful in a very little thing is
faithful also with much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is
unrighteous also in much” (Luke
16:10 NASB).
Is Jesus asking you to say, “Yes,” to something? Don’t
say, “No,” closing the door to your destiny. By the way, “Maybe,” is a negative
response as well.
Perhaps, like me, you’ve said, “No,” to His call in the
past. That doesn’t mean it’s over. Our God is full of grace and is a second and
third (and more) chance God.
He doesn’t get mad at us but it saddens Him when we turn
away from His calling
.
This time say, “Yes.” Boldly say, “Yes,” with joy and
anticipation at what God’s going to do. With a willing vessel, God is able to do
exceedingly more than we can ask or think or imagine because of his Spirit
working in and through us (Ephesians 3:20).
Is God saying, “Say, ‘Yes,’ (your name). Say, ‘Yes!’”?
©Connie
Wohlford 2016
