“You’re not my boss!!”
How many times have we turned toward our sibling and retorted those words when we were told to do something?
When our sibling added the next string of words, we still doubted the truth (and we sure didn’t want to do what our brother or sister said to do).
“You have to!!   Mom said so!!”
Did mom’s “say so” make us move to do the commanded task quicker?
Did we still think it was a trick, a way to get us to do something we didn’t want to do?
Did we still doubt?
“I’ll tell mom if you don’t!!” Another sibling reply flew our way.
Did those words move us to action, the fear of being called out for our disobedience?
Did we ever DO what we did not want to do, but did it anyway because we feared punishment, the consequence if we did not?
Did we DO the commanded task but still doubt the truth (of what we must do) while we were in the process of “doing”?
And after minutes of bickering back and forth, what comment OR what fear OR what consequence OR what action finally led us to do what our sibling commanded us to do?

Maybe this topic resonates with you today.  I grew up in a family of seven—-Dad and Mom, then three of us kids, and then a span of time (to let mom catch her breath, I am sure). Then came along baby Jill, and then another span of time (and an opportunity to pack up the family and move from what we knew—Indiana—and move south to Kentucky), and then….guess what? Surprise!……Curtis joined our happy tribe.

Siblings.  Yes, the more, the merrier, people say, and while that is so totally true (as an adult), the words did not always seem so true when we were children and when a sibling was telling us what to do.
Nope!!!!

We don’t like to be bossed around, especially by someone who is no different than us.

BUT THEN CAME THE TRUTH!!!!

Not many minutes after the command was issued by our sibling and followed up with the “mom said so,” we learned the real truth—–Mom came into the room to see if we were doing what we were told to do, and we KNEW the TRUTH—-Mom really did say so.

Thus, we come to this strange question, one that affects all areas of our lives.

• Do we do what we do because of the authority of the one who issues the command? OR
• Do we already know what we know we need to do, even though we might be so slow to “Do” what we know we should Do?
• Do we know IT, but lie to ourselves?
• Do we tell ourselves—–There’s plenty of time to wait,    OR
• Thinking that IT’S not really true what we must Do,  OR
• Telling ourselves that someone else WILL Do the task (even those tasks we know deep down we are called to Do)?
• Do we know what TO DO, but act as if we don’t?
• Do we know what TO DO, but think maybe we should wait until we have more training before we DO?

We could even be guilty of thinking that someone else SHOULD DO IT, the task that we just don’t want to DO?
It is 100% truth that we are called to BECOME a child of God.  Every single person is called to BELIEVE IN JESUS.
It is also 100% true that we don’t need to DO anything to gain this position, and we know this is true because Jesus already DID everything upon the cross and within the grave.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ secured the only way possible, the only way to reach an intimate relationship with God.  We simply accept, believe, and confess this truth with childlike faith and ask Jesus to become our Savior and LORD. 

Our part—–A Heart Condition, A Heart Searching, & A Heart Reply to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Our “doing” comes after our belief, after our acceptance, after our confession of Jesus as LORD. 

Let’s pause and see an example to put this thought into better perspective. 
Simon was a man who could really catch fish.  In fact, he needed no one to tell him how, or where, or even when to fish.  Simon was a professional.  He was quite good at his chosen career.  Then a day came when he labored all day and caught nothing, a day when he came back to shore with empty nets.
That was the same day Simon met Jesus.
That was the day Simon believed and accepted the words of Jesus.
Jesus walked toward where Simon was cleaning his empty nets, and Jesus asked to borrow Simon’s boat.  Simon said yes.
Even though it had been a long day of fishing, a day filled with casting and pulling in the nets time after time, Simon still felt compelled to say, “Yes” to Jesus’ first request to borrow the boat.
It was the second request that caused Simon a moment of pause.

The words that came next out of Simon’s mouth reveals everything!!

“Master,…I will do as You say….”

• Saying “Yes,” such a simple and very small word; yet still such a powerful word.
• Saying “Yes” to Jesus changes everything!!!
• Saying “Yes” to the Son of God changes the rest of our lives.
• Saying “Yes” to our LORD’S request propels us toward a future we could never, ever imagine for ourselves. 
• Saying “Yes,” even when we may not know the future of where the “yes” answer will take us or even what task we are saying “yes” to actually do.

Sometimes, we know that we must say “yes” even though in our minds, the details are still obscure.
We just need one single action in order to be obedient.
Say YES.

• No hesitating.
• No pausing to think it through.
• No stopping to weigh out our options.
• No wondering what will happen if we say, “Yes.”

We see in God’s Word that Simon did not hesitate.  “When they had done this,… (Luke 5:6a).
What are we being called to on this day?
WHO are we being led to Accept?  Believe?  Confess?

When we were kids and our siblings told us to do something, we probably hesitated to believe them because we knew the truth—-they were just like us, kids and not the authority.   Yet, when our parent stepped into the room and spoke the sentence we now knew the TRUTH to the question.

“Have we DONE what the Son was sent to tell us to DO?”

As a child, sometimes I was pretty stubborn.
As an adult, sometimes I am pretty stubborn.
It is a truth!
I know with 100% assurance that God has saved my soul.  I accepted and believed and confessed Jesus as LORD when I was a teen.  Since that day, I have been trying to live in the land of “DOING” what my Master, what my Savior, what my Redeemer, what my LORD leads me to do. But, still, I am oftentimes disobedient to His will.
My prayer is that you too have accepted Jesus. But, still, you may also be disobedient (at times) to His will, to His authority. 
Jesus has stepped in, and now we know that we know that we know that we know……exactly what we must DO.
Be Obedient. 
No Hesitation. 
Yes, LORD, what will You have us to Do?
We are promised so much by our Father, and one promise of God gives us courage to DO what God’s Holy Spirit leads us To DO.

Let us DO today.
Let us DO with no hesitation, no pause for thinking it out, and with no giving it up for someone else to do.
Let us simply SAY, “Yes, LORD,….use me….send me….allow me….lead me to DO ALL THAT YOU ASK ME TO DO.”
As Jeremy Camp sings, “Keep Me In The Moment” because I don’t want to miss what you have for me.
I would imagine that you, too, will sing that same song with me today.

Let us SEE the example given to us in God’s Holy Word through the obedience of one fisherman, &

Let us EXCLAIM…..to our Master….“Master,…but I will do as You say” (Luke 5:5).

DO TODAY….IN IMMEDIATE OBEDIENCE…..&…BE BLESSED TODAY…..KNOWING WITH ASSURANCE….GOD’S PROMISES ALWAYS COME TRUE…..ALWAYS!!!