“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not” (Proverbs 1: 10 KJV).
“But if ye say, We will not . . . obey the voice of the LORD our God, saying, No” (Jeremiah 42: 13, 14 KJV).
The word “no” is one of, if not the most powerful word in our vocabulary. It’s just a two-letter word, but we use it to protect our rights, our property, and our purity.
We say “no” when we’ve made the choice not to give our consent to something like sin. Sometimes, if not very often, we say “no” to God and His holy will. Israel has a long history of saying “no” to God and, as a result, has a long history of being in trouble.
Saying “no” is like putting up a wall and saying “go no further”. We have signs that say, “No trespassing”, “No loitering”, “No Parking”, “No skateboarding” and other prohibitions, but people ignore the “no” and trespass, loiter, park, and skateboard anyhow.
Wars begin when stronger and oppressive regimes demand that a weaker regime surrender to them, and they say “no.” Saying “no” does not necessarily mean the end of strife and opposition because there are some who will not accept “no” for an answer. When we say “no” some people become hostile and work to intimidate or manipulate us, so we will change our mind. So we must not only say “no” but we must mean it.
We have the right to say not, but everyone does not respect that right. Saying “no” is the way we express our refusal or disagreement with another person. Saying “no” is the way we express what we will do with what is ours. Saying “no” is the way we let others know where we stand. As in “No I do not stand with that one, but yes, I do stand with this one.”
It is our right to say no to man in order to protect our rights, property, person, and purity. And we will become stronger for it. C. H. Spurgeon said, “Learn to say no. It will be of more use to you than being able to read Latin.” Saying “no” to the world, the flesh, and the devil is the way the Christian becomes sanctified, separate, and peculiar.
But it is a different thing to say “no” to God. When I was growing up, I never said “no” to my parents, but I do remember saying “no” to God. That was because I feared and respected my parents but had not learned how I should fear and respect God.
God gave us free will and let us choose to say “no” to Him and His holy will. Lost people say “no” every day to God’s offer of salvation. Christians say “no” every day to God’s perfect will for their life.
Things would have gone a lot better for Israel if, instead of saying “no” and rebelling against God, she had said yes. Things will go a lot better for us if, instead of saying “no” to God and His will and rebelling against Him, we also say yes.
