There's a movie,
I'm not sure if you've seen it,
starring Jim Carrey, and it's called "Yes Man."
I'm not even saying it's a good movie,
but as I remember it, he's a bank loan officer
that says "No" to everything.
He's becoming pessimistic, but he gets convinced
to go to a seminar where he agrees
to say "Yes" to every opportunity.
His life takes off.
He's way more fun, and all kinds of
amazing things happen to him,
but I am convinced that in real life
your life only gets better when you say "No."
Think about all the stress that is caused
because you say "Yes."
You say "Yes" to a project at work.
You say "Yes" to be room mom.
You say "Yes" to volunteer.
You say "Yes" to be on a board.
You say "Yes" to go on a trip.
You say "Yes" to home improvements.
All these things bring stress.
I wish it was as easy as Titus chapter 2.
We just say no to ungodliness and sin and we're set.
But instead, we have good things and more good things.
Is work bad?
No.
Are sports bad?
No.
Is your family bad?
No.
Is a new car bad?
No.
None of these things are bad,
but we live in a zero sum world
so every single time we say "Yes,"
we have to say "No" to something else.
Let me give you some examples.
If you say "No" to a project at work,
you might have the stress of not making money at home.
But then if you say "Yes" to that project at work,
you might have the stress of not being with your family.
You say "Yes" to volunteering,
well, now you have to give up something else,
and you have stress from that.
You say "Yes" to a new car,
and now you must say "No" to being under budget
and the stress that comes with it.
You say "Yes" to going on a Sunday to a sports game,
and now you have the stress of not being
in church with your family.
Every time you say "Yes," that brings stress.
Why do you do these things?
I think that's the question we have to ask ourselves.
Are you saying "Yes" because this is best
with our walk with God, or are you saying "Yes"
because you want to be accepted?
Are you saying "Yes" because it feels cooler
to be in a new car?
Are you saying "Yes" because you want people
to look at you like you're this tireless worker?
Derek Sivers, who is an author,
is famous for one phrase,
and I can't actually say his phrase.
So you can guess what word goes in between.
He says when you look at an opportunity,
when you look at a job,
when you look at something you can do,
if it is not an enthusiastic, "Heck yeah,"
it's a no.
Why does he do this?
If you want to live out the life
that God has called you to be,
to be the best mom you can be,
to be the best dad you can be,
to be the best worker you can be,
to have your best walk with God,
you have to say "No" to a lot of good things.
I just think of the life of Christ.
Here is God on earth who could do anything he wanted,
anything at all, and what does he do?
All these opportunities, and he says
"Yes" to a perfect life.
He says "yes" to death on the cross.
When God pointed to him and said the next step means
damnation and suffering and hell,
our Jesus said, "Yeah."
Let's pray.
God, you give us so many opportunities.
We pray for two things.
We want strength to say "No" to ungodliness and sin,
but we also want just as much strength
to say "No" to the good things in our life
so that we can do the awesome things in our life,
our priorities, the things you've called us to do
in our walk with you.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
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