The NIV 365 Day Devotional

When to Say Yes

How many times have we learned and relearned the lesson that we have to be careful how we respond when we’re asked to do something? If we say yes too quickly, we find that we must somehow set aside the precious time needed to complete the requested task or disappoint someone else by failing to get the job done.

As Christians, we yield ourselves to God to be used to bring the good news to others, both by example and by words. This action is all about saying yes. But some people shy away from saying yes to serving others because they don’t feel that they’re good enough. Like they have nothing to offer anyone else. The reality is that nothing could be further from the truth.

Society tells us that pain is useless. But pain has value, as do the people who experience it. Thankfully, we can allow God to recycle our pain by allowing his fire and light to shine on it, to melt down all sorts of baggage so it can be used again in a positive way. They can be recycled to show others how you’ve come through darkness into Christ’s glorious freedom and light.

To truly put this into practice, we must give God the latitude he needs to use us as he sees fit. We do that by presenting everything we have — our time, talents and treasures — to him. We hold on loosely to all that we call our own, recognizing that all of it comes from his hand. When we’re yielded to him, God can use us as his instruments to carry the message to others through our words and actions.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, as it would please you, bring me someone today whom I can serve. Amen.

Taken from the NIV Celebrate Recovery Study Bible.