ERICA DUNOMES

A few weeks ago, I shared with you 2 things God wanted you to know in 2023. I stated that one of the things God wanted you to know was that He is looking for you to give Him your, YES. Maybe you’ve decided that you do want to finally say yes to God, but you need to know what to do or where to start. Today I will share 3 practical ways to say, “Yes” to God today.

There’s a reason God is calling you.

We were all created for a reason. God has placed a call on everyone’s life. There is a purpose He has for us all to fulfill according to His will. So how does God call us? Well, I believe that the call of God is the same for everyone. It’s what He uses that creates a different experience for each individual.

For me, it first started with an invitation to attend a church service. Second, it was the seed of the message sown by the pastor. Third, it was the invitation to receive Christ into my heart. Fourth, it was a Christian music CD (Mary Mary). Let me also mention the many things that were taking place in my life at that time.

In all honesty, I ran from God’s call. There were things that I was doing in the world that I foolishly thought I could never let go of. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to so bad. It was hard. I kept choosing all of the other things. Then the day came when I finally got tired of running. I got tired of the struggle. The tug God had on my heart was so strong, it became impossible for me to keep ignoring. So, I said, Yes. I said yes to God.

Things change when you say yes to God.

Of course, I’m speaking of change in a good way. A sense of renewal comes over you. Your heart is instantly flooded with His peace, and your life becomes never the same. All of the things that were once considered darkness in your life soon gets exposed to His light. And you get to see what it’s like to really taste and see His goodness.

Now, let’s get to those practical ways to say yes to Him:

1. Put God first in your life.

Making God the head of your life is the best way to say yes to Him. If you are a non-believer, for you, this means believing in Him and receiving salvation through confessing His son Jesus as your Savior and Lord, thus putting Him on the throne of your heart.

that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 
~Romans 10:9,10 KJV

If you are a believer, this means recommitting your life to Him and getting rid of whatever you have allowed to take His place as first on the throne of your heart.

The Word says that God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5; 34:14). He does not want you worshiping anything or anyone else above Him. Please note that His jealousy is not that of the sinful kind. It is a righteous jealousy. Dr. Tony Evans gives the best example of what this looks like:

“Think of it as the righteous and loving jealousy of a husband who is zealous for the faithfulness of his wife and wants to keep her and their marriage from harm.”

Dr. Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary

God is a God of compassion. He compassionately loves and cares for you, so much so that He gave His one and only Son for you (John 3:16). To put Him first in your life means that you are responding to the love He pours out daily upon you.

2. Spend time with Him.

Saying yes to God is not only putting Him first in your life. You must spend time with Him. He invites you into intimate relationship. One that must be cultivated. Reading the Word of God and spending time in praise and worship helps to do just that.

God wants His creation to know Him. Spending time with God reading His word helps you to learn His voice, His nature, and His character. But friend, spending time with God is not something that will just happen. You must be intentional about it. There are so many things that fight for our attention today. The timing may not come easy and may never seem perfect.

However, one practical way of being sure that you make time to spend with God is to do it first.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; 
~Matthew 6:33a

In Greek the word first is proton. It means firstly in time place order or importance; before at the beginning chiefly at the first or first of all. So, not only does God want to be first in your life, but He also wants you to give Him the very first part of your day. Here are a couple of benefits to doing this:

• You set the tone for your day.
• Your values are put in the right place.

Talk about a perfect way to start the day, right? For a more in-depth study on spending time with God, check out one of my favorite articles here.

3. Do what He tells you to do.

Honor your father and mother is a command from God that is mentioned in the Bible at least eight times or more. That command means that we are to respect and value our parents in the eyesight of God. When they tell us to do or not to do something, we are to immediately obey. To do the opposite would mean that we walk in disobedience.

Can I tell you a secret? The way God established your earthly parent-to-child relationship is an exact representation of your spiritual parent-to-child relationship. God expects you to honor, respect, and revere Him the same way He commanded you to do to your parents. After-all, He is your Heavenly Father, and He expects us to obey Him by doing what He tells us to do. The promise connected to it is that our days may be long in the earth.

To obey God is to attentively hearken and submit to His fatherly and godly authority in our lives. By doing this we show God that we love Him and want to please Him. No one did this better than Jesus.

Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
‭‭~John‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭

Jesus spent His whole life being about His Father’s business. From the time He was born up until the time He died, He had only one focus and one mission. That was to do what the Father wanted and needed Him to do. His answer to God was, “Yes”. Even after His resurrection, He is still saying yes to God. He is God.

The obedience of Jesus has saved many lives, including yours and mine. It was imperative for Him to say yes. Imagine if things would have been the opposite. Friend, we wouldn’t be here today being a witness to any of the mercy, grace and goodness of God. Yet, here we are. Praise Jesus!

Just as Jesus had purpose connected to His obedience, we too have purpose connected to ours. To do what God tells us to do is so much more important than we know. We actually partner with God through our yes to help Him establish His kingdom work in the earth as it is in heaven. That’s no small feat. That’s huge!

Picture what lives we help to save. Picture our godly influence and the impact it can have. Picture the resources that we can help create. Wow!

Saying yes to God is a lifetime endeavor.

It doesn’t just stop at your confession to salvation. Rightly so, it does stem from that very moment. Every day after that for the rest of your life you will constantly be saying yes to God. At least I hope you would. Trust me when I say that some days will definitely be easier than others to do so. Your spirit will always be willing, but at the same time, your flesh is definitely weak.

Have you been practicing these ways of saying yes to God already? Which one have you found to be the most difficult?

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