“And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him”.
Luke 5:11
“I’ll Say Yes, Lord”. These are the simple words of a song sang beautifully and worshipfully by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. This morning as I listened to this award-winning choir sing with all of their hearts, I began to ponder my own personal journey with the Lord. I reflected on my beginning times of communion with God when I would venture often to a nearby park in the south suburbs of Chicago—a quiet area nurtured by a calm river and bordered by endless rows of tall standing trees. I recall the Spirit of God causing me to face towards the direction of the big city and then speaking directly to my heart the message that there is where He would send me. I simply said, “Yes”.
And now after several years of having served in a city where change happens regularly and rapidly—after having suffered the many hardships of urban ministry—after having established by the grace of God a family to nurture and love and lead, once again God appears to be calling me onward. This time to a rural place, a far land on foreign soil. “To Your will, Lord, I say, Yes”.
When Christ calls, we do not know to where His call may lead. Yet, the worshipping heart has come to see in Jesus something so very precious and exceptionally rare that it is worth leaving all else behind—even the very things and people we truly love. Obedience to God may very well lead to personal discomfort, to significant loss, to periods of uncertainty and even to violent persecution such as those fishermen of Galilee would eventually encounter. However, for those who have experienced a genuine encounter with the Eternal Son of God, saying “Yes” is in many ways the simple part.
Have you said “Yes” to the Lord’s call?
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