“Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”    (Matthew 5:37)

If we’re going to have a meaningful life, we must learn how and when to clearly say yes and how and when to clearly say no. So many people find it difficult to be clear, definitive, and decisive. It’s like they’re afraid to commit. They may use the words yes and no, but they prefer hedging their bets. Their yes is more like “maybe.” Their no is more like “perhaps not.”

I don’t think we can know how important it is to let our yes be yes and our no is no until we know why we are here. Knowing our purpose brings great clarity and urgency to our lives, and our saying yes or no takes on huge importance. If we don’t know why we are, our saying yes or no doesn’t much matter.

Do you know why God gave you life? Why God gave you so many gifts? Why Jesus sends you out into the world to be His presence and servant?

If you don’t know why you are here, I encourage you to ask God to reveal His purpose to you.

How will you know if you are hearing and living into that purpose? You will know when you are dedicated to serving others; when you have given your life to an endeavor that’s bigger than you; when you are bringing hope and joy to those in need; when you have embarked upon an adventure that makes your heart sing and brings you to your knees in praise and need. Praise because God has given you something great to do. Need because you—like everyone else—can’t live into God’s purposes without God’s help.

If you do know God’s purpose for your life, I encourage you to keep on saying yes to those people, opportunities, and practices that help you to live into it, and to keep on saying no to those that distract, detract, and detour you from living into God’s purpose for your life.

Reflection Questions:

1. Do you find it easy or hard to say yes and no?

2. Do you know the purpose God has for you? If so, how are you living into it? If not, it is time to ask God to reveal it to you.

3. Do you have anything in your life that causes you to drop to your knees with both praise and need? If so, what are you praising, and what are you needing? And if not, is there something missing?