What if you said "Yes" to God?
In Mark 10 there is remarkable story of a wealthy young man who comes to Jesus and asks what he needs to do to gain eternal life. Jesus’ initial response is to keep the Law. The young man reveals that this is something that he has done since he was a child. He obviously realizes that keeping the law isn’t enough, and so Jesus answers him and says, “One thing you lack; sell everything you have, give to the poor and come follow Me.” The young man went away sad because he had many possessions.
I’ve often wondered what that man’s life would have been like had he said “Yes” to Jesus. He had great possessions, great power and probably great respect in his community; he probably had a lot going for him. But what if he had been willing to sell everything and then follow Christ. What would God have done in this young man’s life if he had said “yes” to Jesus? Perhaps God would have had even greater things in store for this young man ... eternally greater things.
I think the kind of opportunity this man had is present everyday in our world. I believe Jesus is still calling people to follow Him, and a few are saying yes to Him, but many are going away sad because they have so much invested in this world. Their lives are so filled with temporal stuff, there is no room for God to move in their lives.
I read the story of Lillian Trasher, who said yes to Jesus when she was only 8 years old. In doing so, Lillian also prayed, “Lord, if there is ever anything you want me to do for you, You just let me know and I will do it.”
When she was in her late teens God called her to work in an orphanage in North Carolina, so she moved away from family and began a life there. She met and fell in love with a young pastor named Tom Jordan. They planned to get married, but during their engagement Lillian heard a missionary from India speak and she felt a strong call to the mission field. Tom didn’t have that same call, and 10 days before their wedding, Lillian broke off their engagement. Lillian began to seek the Lord for where He would have her serve on the mission field.
She felt the Lord calling her to Egypt and in 1910, she and her sister arrived in Egypt with only $100 between them. They weren’t sure what kind of ministry the Lord was calling them to, but only a few days after they arrived, a dying woman they had just met gave Lillian her baby. The baby’s grandmother wasn’t able to care for it, and there was no one else. Within a year Lillian and her sister started the Lillian Trasher Orphanage. By 1923 Lillian was caring not only for orphan children but widows and disabled adults as well. There were nearly 300 people under her care.
Lillian would spend the rest of her life caring for the needy of Egypt. When she died in 1961, Mama Lillian was caring for more than 1200 people. She is buried on the grounds of the orphanage that is still in operation today, 61 years after her death. That’s the kind of thing that happens when people say yes to Jesus, and they make room for him to work in their lives. Ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
1900 years before Lillian Trasher said "yes" to God, another young girl said "yes" to Him. An angel appeared to Mary of Nazareth to tell her that she had been chosen to the human vessel through whom the Messiah, God's only Son would come into this world. Though she had some concerns, Mary's response is beautiful: Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1:38 NLT The world has never been the same since. How different will the world be when you say "YES" to God!
