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Three words changed my life – sit, walk, stand!
I’m the type of personality who doesn’t wait for God to give directions. I get up in the morning and say, “Here I am God, I’m going!”
In the early 70’s, someone gave me a small book entitled Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee. The person who gave me the book said, “You can’t grow in Christ unless you read this book.”
I’ve been given many books through the years with a similar suggestion; now I receive links to blogs, vlogs, or YouTube videos with the same comment. So little time and so much information!
I read Sit, Walk, Stand. I am glad that I did. It transformed my life. I’m still learning, relearning and trying to learn Watchman Nee’s teaching from the Book of Ephesians.
Nee summarized Ephesians as the most essential book in the Bible for learning to walk in the fullness of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). The book lays out a plan that doesn’t come naturally to those (like me) who have great agendas.
Watchman Nee said that the most important lesson of the Christian faith is learning to sit!
What?! I have so many things to do! No time for sitting!
The first chapter is entitled “Sit”. Quotes below:
And raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6
Christianity does not begin with walking; it begins with sitting… If we try to do anything, we get nothing; if we seek to attain something, we miss everything. Christianity does not begin with a big do, but with a big done… The Christian life, start to finish, is based upon this principle of utter dependence upon the Lord Jesus.
After you learn to sit, then you get to walk, not run, not be filled with anxiety, and not get ahead of the Lord’s leading.
The second chapter is entitled “Walk”. Quotes below:
Sitting describes our position with Christ in the heavenlies. Walking is the practical outworking of that heavenly position here on earth. The word “walk” is mentioned eight times in Ephesians. …walk in a manner worthy of your calling (Ephesians 4:1). All who sit can walk, for in the thought of God, the one follows the other spontaneously.
My plan after learning to sit and then walk is to pick up the pace. A lot of things need to get done and I’m the guy. But Watchman Nee teaches that after learning to sit and walk you need to stand.
The third chapter is entitled “Stand”. Quotes below:
Take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore. Ephesians 6:13-14
Christian experience begins with sitting and leads to walking, but it does not end with these. Every Christian must learn also to stand. Each of us must be prepared for conflict… no Christian can hope to enter the warfare of the ages without learning first to rest in Christ… if he hasn’t learned to sit and to walk… he will find that spiritual warfare remains only talk… Jesus warred against Satan to gain victory… we wage war to solidify the victory that Christ already gained.
Sit, Walk, Stand! We need to sit. We need to walk after sitting, and we will then stand against the wiles of the evil one. If we already have all the riches in Christ then we don’t need to work to get more, we just need to stand against the thief.
A short book! Only three chapters.
I am still learning the lessons that Watchman taught in Sit, Walk, Stand. I hope that you read this book. The book applies the principles of walking and standing with forgiveness to find peace!
Peace – needed in our age of disagreement and dissention.
The Christian life is different. It is antithetical; not so much hard to learn, but so against our natural tendencies. We want to think, learn, bargain, inspect, complain, blame, and work hard.
The Book of Ephesians is the Apostle Paul’s explanation of Jesus’s statement, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Paul teaches that we start with rest by learning to sit. Watchman Nee explains this well in his book Sit, Walk, Stand. And I want to say, “You can’t grow in Christ unless you read this book!”