Stand!

Stand!

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 KJV 

Context and Charge:

Again, it is important to note the audience these words are addressed to. Paul speaks to people who he calls God's church, who have been made holy because they belong to Christ. This ownership is the key to the instructions that are in today's verse. It is not for the crowd; not for people who are unsure of their convictions. If you do not know where you stand, the wave of false doctrine and convenient falsehoods will sweep you away. Biblical history is full of people who started well, but could not endure to the end. If I will carry out the instructions in today's verse, I must align myself with the key that gives access to the resources that make it possible. How else can I do God's will outside of the instructions and directives given by God? How else will I survive the fire that is coming?

It is the trouble that is certainly coming that must push me to be ready. It is not a matter of IF but WHEN. Watching requires attention to detail; watching means being alert, standing in the place I have been assigned, and doing exactly what I have been commissioned to do. I am required to stand fast in the faith, not in anything else, no matter how deceptively attractive it may be, because the devil will certainly raise a storm. I must stand in the strength and use the resources that God gives to achieve all that God demands. God calls me into a new life with Him, and though there is a fight to sort out, I am already assured of victory. All I need to do is stand and enforce that victory. Am I in the faith, or still trying to fight my own way, using earthly tools to fight a war with eternal ramifications?

Conviction and Conclusion:

Every part of this verse is important; watching, standing, quitting like men and being story. This quitting has nothing to do with giving up, but for discharging the responsibility and requirement of men who know who they are, what they are called to do, and are doing it to the best of their ability and relying on God every step of the way. Do not try and fight this fight or run this race with your own power; I cannot make anything of my life by my own power. He will supply the grace required, but I must daily rely on that grace to do all that today's verse requires. Eternity awaits; I must guard my ways, thoughts and actions, so that I can be found worthy to reign with Christ at the end of the fight on earth. May I not fail; may I not give up; may I not fall away. God's time of favour is here.