She Said Yes

Lady of the night. Harlot. Prostitute.

Entering the front door. Slipping out the back door.

Every favor met with few questions and little opposition.

But this night was different.

Her house. Not his. Two people. Not one. For what? How much was the payoff this time?

Two spies. Their life was on the line. And now so was hers.

What did they promise? Life.

What did she say? She said yes.

She lowered the scarlet thread from her bedroom window and provided their way of escape.

Her life was riding the wave of keeping this secret. No doubt she had kept secrets many nights before. But tonight was different. She was not pledging the secrets of her sin. She was pledging the secret of complete annihilation of her city.

But she was convinced that the testimony sworn to her by these spies would change her life forever. And she complied in every way imaginable to secure their hidden identity and their promise that her life would be spared when the army returned.

More than loving her sin. More than loving her own life. She had a new found love for the God of Israel as her heart had been "melted" by the testimony of His actions.

What an amazing story of grace. Two spies enter a whorehouse and promise her life if she'll keep one more dirty little secret. Surprisingly, she does. And the rest is history.

Many of us know her as Rahab the harlot. But we would do well to remember her not by her past indecencies but rather by the moment of faith when she first believed and the grace she had now received.

There are two significant places in Scripture where her name is recorded that certainly paint a different picture of her new identity as God's chosen vessel to pour out His unmistakable plan onto the pages of redemptive history.

Matthew's Gospel records the lineage of Jesus where we find Rahab's name as ancestor of God's Son. The writer of Hebrews also records her name in the acclaimed "Hall of Faith" as one who did not perish with the rest of her city but received life because she welcomed spies into her home.

All because of her willingness to forgo a life harlotry and embrace a real relationship of love, grace, and forgiveness.

She said yes. But it did not come without a contending no. She said no to the sinful and shameful actions of a prostitute to say yes to a healthy and hopeful life as a follower of God.

You and I also have the privilege of laying aside the burden of guilty and shameful living for a life found in Christ. So what we must do is stop prostituting our affections to the highest bidder of our self-made gods that fail to satisfy or give us hope.

Giving God our Yes requires saying No to whatever competes for His attention and affection in this life He's called us to live. So the question remains, "will you say yes?"