It All Starts with “Yes, Jesus”
“And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’”
— Luke 24:32 (NKJV)
It all starts with two simple words: “Yes, Jesus.”
For me, it started on a cool September morning. I was by myself when I finally said, “Yes, Lord.”
I didn’t know everything that yes would mean. I didn’t know where He would lead me or how much my life was about to change. I just knew I needed to say yes.
A month later, I found myself at Walk to Emmaus. And although I had already said yes to Jesus, I came to realize something.
I had said yes to following Him, but I hadn’t said yes to giving Him everything.
I was still carrying years and years of hurt, pain, stress, and sorrow. Burdens I had become so accustomed to carrying that I didn’t even realize how heavy they had become.
And then came the moment when I finally said, “Yes, Lord. I give it all to You.”
I fell to my knees and cried harder than I can describe. Years of emotions came pouring out. The pain, the hurt, the stress, the sorrow. Everything I had been holding on to, everything I had been trying to carry on my own.
And in that moment of surrender, I discovered something Jesus had been telling us all along.
“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” — Matthew 11:30 (NKJV)
I had spent years carrying things He never intended for me to carry alone.
But here’s what I’ve learned since that day.
Saying yes to Jesus isn’t a one-time decision. It’s a daily surrender.
We have to continue saying yes.
Yes, Lord, when He asks us to forgive someone who hurt us.
Yes, Lord, when He calls us to serve even when we’re exhausted.
Yes, Lord, when He asks us to let go of something we’re desperately trying to control.
Yes, Lord, when His plans don’t look anything like ours.
And yes, Lord, when we don’t understand what He’s doing but trust Him anyway.
The more we say yes to the things He asks of us, the more familiar and precious His voice becomes. We begin to recognize His leading through His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
In Luke 24, two disciples walked the road to Emmaus with Jesus, not realizing who was walking beside them. As He spoke and opened the Scriptures, their hearts burned within them. It wasn’t until later that they recognized Him.
And I wonder how often we do the same thing.
How often is Jesus walking beside us, speaking to our hearts through His Word, inviting us to trust Him, while we’re still holding on to the very things He’s asking us to surrender?
I can look back on that September morning and that weekend at Walk to Emmaus and see how Jesus was working in my life. But I can also look at my life today and recognize that He’s not finished with me.
There are still things I need to surrender. Still moments when I struggle to let go. Still days when I have to remind myself that His ways are greater than mine.
And that’s why I keep saying yes.
My prayer is that when I reach the end of this road, at the end of my life, I can look back with wonder and joy and say:
“Wasn’t my heart burning within me as He walked with me all along?”
Here’s my challenge for you today:
Maybe you’ve already said yes to Jesus. Maybe you’ve been following Him for years.
But have you given Him everything?
Is there something you’re still holding on to? Some hurt you haven’t released? Some burden you’ve convinced yourself you have to carry alone?
Jesus isn’t asking you to figure it all out before coming to Him. He’s inviting you to trust Him with it.
And when tomorrow comes, say yes again.
Because the first yes begins the journey, but every yes that follows draws us deeper into a life of surrender, obedience, and fellowship with Him.
It all starts with “Yes, Jesus.”
But it never stops there.
— Rev. Carlos Figueroa
TheFreeBible.org
