Noah Flanagan

Why Jesus?

It’s funny, I remember being asked that same question just 5 months after I had given my life to him. The question stumped me. Why exactly was I following Him? It had all happened so fast. One moment I was still debating the existence of Jesus. The next, I had decided to give him a shot. It was a simple answer at the time. No more than a weak “yes”. But one thing led to another, and there I was 5 months later, still giving Him that yes. After becoming “saved”, that yes kept me going. It encouraged me to continue believing, to continue fighting, to continue healing. That yes became a crack in the door, and it was just enough for Jesus to put His foot in. Eventually, the yes began to resound more in my life. More and more of my inward thoughts were transfixed on that yes. My thoughts, my actions, my habits, more of them said yes to following Jesus. With every yes, that door became wider, and Jesus pushed Himself harder into my heart. Eventually I was saying yes to bigger things. Yes to missions, yes to worship, yes to generosity, and even yes to laying down my life. 

And somewhere along this line of yes’, I fell in love. 

I do things now that I never imagined myself doing. I preach the gospel to strangers; I dance wildly during worship; I’m constantly at His feet laying down everything towards Him. These qualities of love I’ve learned have all been by His grace. I know I never could have learned them on my own. Every day is a new experience, a new teaching. And there is no end to this. I’m still young in my journey, but I’m thankful for all that I’ve been taught. All that I have learned has not been by the wisdom or theology of man, but by a divine intervention of His teachings, all pointing to a deeper understanding of truth. It’s a personal relationship. For this reason, I see no end in sight to this beloved dance. Each chapter in my life, no matter how painful, will be more beautiful than the previous, because I gave Jesus my little yes 3 years ago, and more importantly, He gave me His yes. So why Jesus? I couldn’t tell you exactly, it’s something I’ve given up trying to understand. I don’t know what I did to deserve this revelation of love. All I can think of saying is something a certain blind beggar once said 2000 years ago, “I was blind, but now I see”.