Will YOU Stand?

Sometimes it's hard to stand up.

I don't mean, "I'm out of shape and I exercised last night so my legs hurt" sort of standing up...I mean to stand up FOR something that's right, or AGAINST something that's wrong.

Standing up leads to being singled out, sometimes it leads to rejection, sometimes to teasing, sometimes to threats--or even worse...but we may still be called to stand up!

The question is, "How do we know"? How do we know if something is important enough to 'stand up' for?

After all, no one wants to be around people who are always making a 'mountain out of a molehill'. There are some people for whom there always seems to be a 'dramatic moment' in life...and we just get tired of being around them. Their voice becomes irritating to us.

But sometimes, in some cases, God Himself calls us to 'Stand Up'!

He called to Ezekiel, saying,

“Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me. If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself." (Ezekiel 33:7-9)


In that case, God was calling to a specific person--Ezekiel--to stand up against a specific set of problems in Israel--Israel's sinful, rebellious behavior, in order to help move them to genuine repentance (and thus, His forgiveness and restoration). They had 'religion', but not real 'faith'.

"So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money. You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it!" (Ezekiel 33:31-32)

--This does NOT mean that everytime we get something on our minds, it is from God, and He's calling US to stand.

But how do we know? How do we know when He is calling us to 'stand up' and make His words known?

The answer is in the question--it's when we're standing on HIS WORDS!

NOT when we're standing for our own opinion, NOT when we're standing up 'for what we think is right', and NOT when we're standing up for what our culture says is 'good'.

Rather, when we are standing on HIS Word and HIS principles, and HIS character...and standing against those who would compromise or rebel.

That's when we--as His children--NEED to 'stand up'!


It can be tough...it can be costly...but I believe that God is looking for people who are willing to 'stand up' for Him.

Will you STAND UP...with me?