17 Years Later, Jesus Is Still Worthy of My Yes

Seventeen years ago today, I gave my life to Jesus Christ.

October 29, 2009. I’ll never forget that date. I didn’t know what the next seventeen years would hold. I just knew I needed Jesus.

Looking back today, I’m grateful I said yes to Him. And I’m even more grateful for how faithful He has been to me since then.

A lot has changed. His faithfulness hasn’t.

I’m not the same person I was in 2009. Thank God for that.

That doesn’t mean I have everything figured out now. I’m still learning. There are still things God is correcting in me, still places where I need to trust Him, and still days when I need to be reminded that I can’t do this on my own.

I needed His grace when I first surrendered my life to Him. I need it just as much today.

These seventeen years haven’t been without struggles. There have been good seasons, hard seasons, and seasons when I had more questions than answers. There have been moments when trusting God came easily and others when I had to choose to trust Him without understanding what He was doing.

As I look back over all of it, I can say that Jesus has been faithful. Even in the parts I wouldn’t have chosen for myself.

I couldn’t have known what was ahead

When I think about the doors God has opened, the people He has brought into my life, and the opportunities He has given me to serve Him, I’m thankful. I couldn’t have planned all of this. I certainly couldn’t have imagined it that day in 2009.

And some of what He has used to grow me came through difficult seasons. I don’t want to pretend those seasons were easy or that I understood their purpose while I was in them. But looking back, I can see ways He was shaping me that I couldn’t see at the time.

God has been patient with me. That’s something I appreciate more as the years go by. He has corrected me when I needed correction, stretched me when I would have preferred to stay comfortable, and continued teaching me to follow Him.

There’s still plenty of growing left to do.

I still want to say yes

The longer I follow Jesus, the more I realize how much of this life comes down to daily surrender.

It’s trusting Him with what I don’t understand. Listening to His Word when it challenges what I want. Being willing to obey instead of waiting until I feel ready or have every question answered.

I’m thankful for the decision I made seventeen years ago. But I don’t want to spend today only looking back at it. I want to keep following Him now.

Seventeen years later, Jesus is still worthy of my yes.

If I could say one thing to the younger version of myself who gave his life to Christ on October 29, 2009, it would be simple: Keep following Jesus. He’s worth it all.

Today, I’m thanking Him for His mercy, His patience, and the grace He has given me through every season. I’m grateful for these seventeen years, and by His grace, I want to spend the rest of my life following Him.

All glory belongs to Him.