Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done
to you"; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly. "See that no
one knows about this." But they went out and spread the news about him all over the
region (Mt.9:29-31).
Once we have taken our stand, the next thing we must do
is begin to walk. Very few of us while learning to walk stop with merely standing up.
Standing up is just the first part of the process. In Christ we first stand because we
have believed, and in that belief we have trusted. And in the moment we first come to our
feet, we realize that it is because the Hand of our loving Lord has lifted us to our feet.
But for some reason, many of us have become content to stand and do nothing more. We
become excited within the moment we stand and we are satisfied with that moment. So much
so that many of us grow contented to remain there because we like it there, or because we
are afraid to take a step in any direction.
But Jesus did not call us to stand only, but also to walk. That is because He wants to
give us a life more abundant. He is the God who will take us places, should we decide to
listen to Him and take that first step once we have stood up.
The salvation Jesus brings us is born from unconditional love. However, for us to truly
benefit from what He has to offer us, we must also learn to walk. What that means is that
we not only trust, but we also obey. Jesus brought healing to souls and bodies of people
who needed Him. But He often said something afterwards to them--a kind of verbal
instruction or commandment. He told the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no
more." He told many whom He had healed not to tell anybody but to go and do this or
that. Each case was specific to the individuals involved, and each command well intended.
Yet so many times, the commandment of Christ was broken almost immediately. The people had
taken a stand to trust Jesus in some fashion, yet they did not take the first step of
obedience after standing.
Each call of Christ upon each life is one of trust. We must come to a point wherein we
take a stand. That is not a stand against, as in, against wrong or against sin or against
abortion etc.. But it is a stand taken for: for Christ, and for personal holiness, and for
a personal forsaking of self and the pleasures of this age. For as we have purpose in our
stand that goes beyond what we shall receive--it is then that our stand becomes a walk.
And it is then that we do more than just trust Christ for our salvation, we obey Him by
taking those first steps--learning to walk in the Spirit, and no longer after the desires
of this life.
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