DAY 1
A Thousand no’s
JOHN MACDONALD, LEAD PASTOR, THE WOODS CHURCH
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. — Matthew 4:18-20
Your “Yes” is important. What you say “Yes” to impacts all your choices moving forward. Saying “Yes” to one thing means saying
a “No” to a thousand other things. I remember when I said “Yes” to marry Holly and make her my wife. Saying “Yes” meant I was going to break a lot of other girls' hearts — (I’m laughing right now). Saying “Yes” meant I would say no to all others for the rest of my life. It meant my answer was “No” to dating anyone else. “No,” to showing affection to any other woman. “No,” to entertaining thoughts of being with another woman. “No,” to having intimate conversations with another woman. Because I said “Yes” to Holly, there were many “Nos” that followed.
My “Yes” also led to a few more yes’s. “Yes” to loving her, caring for her, and providing for her. “Yes” to going to the beach, long walks, mountain biking, and playing pickleball with her. Because these are some of the things she loves to do.
When Hudson said “Yes” to playing football in high school, it started a long list of eventual “Nos”. “No” to having the summers off. “No” to having weekends off. “No” to summer days of sleeping in. “No” to having lazy days. “No” to some foods that taste really good but aren’t good for building an athletic body of strength and endurance. “No” to dating any cute girl because he has no time for that. (Holly and I are actually grateful for that “No”, don’t tell Hudson). “No” to having any kind of consistent job for spending money because everyday was training day. It also eventually became a “No” to baseball, which Holly and I loved watching him play and thought he would play in college. All because he said “Yes” to football and fell in love with the sport. What you say “yes” to matters. It’s important.
Saying “Yes” to Jesus is no different. It means saying “No” to a thousand other things. When Jesus gave the invitation to his future disciples and said “Come follow Me,” scripture says they dropped their nets at once. In order to follow Jesus, they had to be willing to give up fishing. Maybe that isn’t a hard choice for you, because you hate fishing. But fishing was their livelihood. If we were to put ourselves in their shoes, it would be like saying “No” to a steady income, “No” to your career, and “No” to the only way of life you had ever known.
When Jesus calls us to come and follow Him, He is also calling us to leave some things behind. Jesus reiterates this in Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” “Take up your cross” is simply another way of saying that sacrifice is required. If you are going to take up your cross and follow Jesus, you are saying that there are a lot of things in your life that are not nearly as important as following Jesus that you are going to say “No” to, starting with all forms of sin. But what we say “No” to isn’t always a sin issue. Following Jesus requires us to say “No” to things that are good, in order to create space, time, and capacity for that which is best. Might I add that when we say “Yes” to Jesus, we are saying yes to following Him daily with a posture of listening, learning, observing, obeying and imitating.
We have to be willing to say a thousand “Nos” to the lesser things of this world when we respond to Jesus’ call with “Yes, I will follow
You!” Are there areas or things in your life you need to say “No” to, because you have already said “Yes” to Jesus?
PRAYER
Dear heavenly Father, over the next few minutes as I sit and listen in your presence, please reveal to me anything you are asking me to leave behind. Are there things in my life I am still holding on to that I need to let go or leave behind? Are there any areas of life or decisions that are coming up that I need to say “No” to because I have said “Yes” to following you? Holy Spirit reveal your heart to me now.