Yes Lord

Have you ever said yes to someone and later discovered you regret the commitment?  If so, then it is usually because the commitment ended up being more than we bargained for.  You know, it takes too much of our time, the assignment is longer than expected, and it is just too much work.  It is more work than we are willing to do.  There are two ways to handle this dilemma:  1) Quit, which is to back out of the deal, or 2) Remain committed and see the process through to its end.  We're good at option one.  Quitting is an easy way out, and we consider ourselves freed up to do something more desirable.  On the contrary, keeping one's commitment can be hard work and sometimes endless, but leads to Godly fulfillment.  As Christians, we are faced with daily challenges of saying "Yes Lord," and remaining committed regardless of circumstances in our lives.  You may say, "Not me, I'm sold out for the Lord."  That's a good thing, but remember our every thought, word, and action requires a "Yes Lord" if we want to live the lives Christ died to give us. It's like this.  When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, it means we willfully surrender our lives to Christ.  It means all we think, say, and do is an attempt to represent Christ so others will come into a saving relationship with Him.  So here we see only the initial "Yes Lord" put into action.  What we fail to realize is that for the rest of our lives, God is looking for nothing short of "yes" to His will and "yes" to His way on a daily basis.  A true "Yes Lord" is saying yes to everything in the Word of God.  It does matter because God knows, and it is He who is assessing our every action, thought, and our spoken and unspoken words.  Let's take it a step farther.  It is not just our thoughts, words, and actions that cause us to sin; our motive is just as significant.  An impure motive is a crime of the heart.  People usually judge our actions and speech but fail to consider the heart of the matter, as we saw in the example of the phone call.  Once you have spoken something or carried out an action, you've already passed the thought process and motive for your decision-making.  No matter how sweet the latter, the former must be greater.  Some Christians are of the mindset that another person's motive is between that person and God.  They are uncomfortable addressing such personal matters.  Beloved, that is a trick of the enemy!  Yes, one's motive is a personal matter that ultimately must be reconciled with God; however, to ignore it is no different than ignoring any other sin issue.  It is just as fatal as ignoring the individual who openly shoots another person in the face in broad daylight on a busy city street.  Hideous.  Right?  All sin is hideous to God and equally so.  Just think, we've only considered the first portion of 1 Corinthians 13:4 and already there's much room for improvement.  I will leave the remainder of the verses and chapter for you to ponder on your own in private with God.