WILL YOU SAY YES?

Posted by Bay_Leaf_Staff at 11:28 AM on Apr 21, 2021

It’s fair to say that we all want to see God move in a mighty way in our world and in our country. We long to witness people turning away from their sin and believing in Jesus as their Savior and Lord. We desire to watch God’s hand at work as he restores brokenness in our world. We look around and see our world running in the opposite direction from God and we are praying that revival would come.

But what if before we could see this, God desired something of his people? What if to see this mighty movement of God unfold it required something of you? It might be something simple, but it would be costly.

At the end of Mark chapter 12, Jesus and his disciples are standing in the temple, watching the people give their offerings. The wealthy pass by the offering box and drop in large sums of money. Then a widow approaches the offering box. She drops in two small coins worth very little and leaves. Jesus gathers his disciples around and says, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. For they gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had – all she had to live on.”

Did you catch what Jesus was teaching his disciples in this simple moment? The wealthy people gave out of their surplus. They gave their leftovers to God. This poor widow gave out of her poverty. She gave everything to God. God doesn’t want your leftovers. He wants the best you have to offer. He wants your whole life.

We began our new sermon series entitled, Movement, this month. Our focus verse is found in Zechariah 4:6 – “Not by strength or by might, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Armies.” A movement of God is rooted not in our abilities, but in His Spirit. The question is: are we yielded to His Spirit? This poor widow in Mark 12 put all that she owned in that offering box. She put it all on the line for God. She was willing to fully surrender and be fully obedient to God without fully being able to see what would happen.

These two small coins seemed small and insignificant to the disciples. They didn’t compare to the large sums that the wealthy tossed in. But Jesus had a different view. To Jesus, these two small coins represented a life yielded to the Spirit. A life willing to say “yes” to whatever God asked her to do.

Do you truly want to see God move in mighty ways in our world and in our country? Do you desperately long to witness people turn away from sin to life in Christ? Do you really desire to see God’s hand at work in the church and use Bay Leaf to reach the nations? If your answer is yes, then you must ask yourself one final question: are you prepared to fully surrender to God so that the Spirit can begin this work in you?

This may seem small and insignificant to the world around you, but it will cost you. Zechariah goes on in chapter four to ask: “For who despises the day of small things?” A movement of God begins small. It begins with one who will say “yes” to God. Will you be that person? Will you say “yes” to whatever God calls you to today? Lord, move mightily, but let it begin in me.