"Stand Therefore"

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, ... Ephesians 6:13

There is a thought here at the beginning of this passage of scripture about the armor of God that I think often gets overlooked. After all the armor is pretty cool. Belts, helmets, breastplates, shoes, shields, and swords. Personally I think that it is just as important as any one of the pieces of armor.

He tells us to take up the whole armor of God so that we will be able to withstand because all those elements... truth, righteousness, salvation, faith, gospel of peace, and the sword are what equips us in the fight. Then he goes on to use these words, 'Having done all to stand. Stand therefore' and this is the thought that I would like to talk about today, Standing. I think its important because this is where the choosing takes place and this is what makes the whole armor of God effective in our lives.

He used these words, 'Having done all to stand. Stand therefore' and the word that stands out here is the word all. Having done ALL to stand. Stand therefore,' meaning when you've already been doing all you know to do to stand and to fight.  Stand some more.' There is a choice here that takes place to stand, to not give up, or to be overcome. The choice to stand and to keep on standing no matter what. You've taken some hits, Stand! You don't know what else to do? Stand! That choice to stand is what makes our weapons of warfare possible.

We choose the gift of salvation. We choose to stand in truth. We choose to stand in righteousness. We choose to stand for the gospel of Christ. We choose to stand in faith. We choose to stand on the Word of God. We choose to stand and then stand some more. We choose to stand and to stay in the fight.

When I was reading this verse I remembered a scene in the first Rocky movie that I watched years ago. There was a scene at the end where he was all beat up. He was all swollen, bruised, bloody, and exhausted. There was a moment when he chose not to stay down. He decided he would do the impossible and go the distance. He stood there and would take the hit, go down and jump right back up, take another hit and get back up and he kept on till the hits had very little effect at all. My point here is, there was a moment when in his heart he made the choice, the determination to stand, to make it to the end.  At the end of the fight the other guy was declared the winner but nobody really noticed that. Everybody treated Rocky like he was the winner because he went the distance when no one thought it was possible.  

Point being... Victory is in going the distance! The choosing to stand and to stay in the fight!