Living the Yes

If I'm ruthlessly honest, I may have said yes to God, yes to Christianity,   but really,   I have lived   the no.        ~ Ann Voskamp ~

My wife was given a beautiful book recently. It is the story of one woman's quest to live life fully. At one point the author pens this confession, "If I'm ruthlessly honest, I may have said yes to God, yes to Christianity, but really, I have lived the no."  Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts We live the no? Humanity's inheritance: unbelief, discontent, distrust. Doubting the goodness of God. Unsatisfied with what he promises. And it goes all the way back to the garden. It began with the serpent's conversation with Adam and Eve, asking that opposing question, "Did God say?" "The serpent said to the woman, 'You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" Genesis 3:4-5 Aha! It is the lie that grabs hold of the mind and strangles faith: God is holding out on me, and he doesn't really mean what he says. Somewhere along the line the serpent whispers and we choose to believe the lie that God isn't good and he is holding out on us. We want more! Suspicion and ingratitude creep in, growing like weeds in an untended garden, choking out the peace and joy we were meant to experience through faith as creatures who were created in the image of a faithful God. We give God his due, but live as if he doesn't exist...or he is powerless...or he is indifferent to what happens here. We have said yes to God, yes to Christianity, but we live the no? "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!" Psalm 84:11-12 Today, friends, may we stretch out our arms in gratitude and surrender, boldly daring to trust, choosing to live, doing the yes. Live the Yes! Greg