“Bro! Taking you a minute to stand up!” I nodded my head as I extracted myself from the restaurant booth. “When I sit too long my back gets a little stiff,” I replied.

As I reflected back on that occasion, I was reminded of two things. The first was a verse from Ecclesiastes where King Solomon tells us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (3:1, ESV). The second was the title of a book by Watchman Nee, Sit, Walk, Stand. All three are necessary to be a victorious Christian, and Nee draws out the application of that from the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians.

Nee tells us we need to not only be sitting in the proper place, but we also need to know where that right place is. Paul tells us God has “raised us up with Him [Christ] and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 4:6). Nee tells us, “Christianity does not begin with walking; it begins with sitting” (p. 14). We need to learn that we are “in Christ” and then rest in the assurance of what He has done for us.

The Apostle Paul said, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1:12). We need to learn being with God before we start doing for God.

Paul uses the word “walk” eight times in the Book of Ephesians. “I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1). Paul tells us to “walk in love” (5:2), “walk as children of light” (5:8), and to “walk wisely” (5:15). These exhortations by Paul are all in chapters four through six, where Paul provides us with the practical aspects of living in fellowship with other believers. Paul also provides us with “walking instructions” for husbands, wives, and children.

Nee goes on to tell us, “Every Christian must also learn to stand. Each one of us must be prepared for the conflict. We must know how to sit with Christ in heavenly places, and we must know how to walk worthy of Him down here, but we must also know how to stand before the foe” (p. 52). He draws this from Ephesians 6:10-11, 13: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil… 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 firm.”

I love to “sit” in God’s presence, rejoicing in His steadfast love for me, but I can’t stay there forever. The cure for my stiffness from sitting in the booth too long was to get up and start walking. As I am “walking worthy of my calling” and knowing “Him whom I have believed,” I am now ready to “take up the armor of God” and stand against the foe. If I have not learned to “sit” and to “walk,” I will never be able to “stand” against the foe.

Are you spiritually stiff from only sitting? Are you trying to walk without “knowing Him whom you have believed”? It’s never too late to get back to the basics. Take Nee’s advice and ask God to show you how to sit, how to walk, and how to stand.

What say ye, Man of Valor?
Semper Fidelis!