wickedness in high places."
God's choice of the word "wrestle" is significant. Wrestling is a natural parallel of a great spiritual truth. Wrestling in the natural world is a sport of mastery in strength. To wrestle means "to contend in struggle for power over an opponent."
A wrestler in the natural world must train to be successful at his sport. He must practice wrestling. He must have a proper diet. He must learn the rules of wrestling and they must be carefully followed to win the match. A believer must learn the rules of spiritual warfare in order to be victorious. A proper "diet" of
God's Word and prayer is necessary for successful spiritual wrestling. As in wrestling in the natural world, skill is gained through practice. The primary purpose of training in the natural world is to prepare the wrestler to perform at peak efficiency while experiencing the least amount of fatigue. This is true also in the spirit world.
Some people are easily fatigued and defeated spiritually because they are not properly trained for spiritual warfare.
Individual championship wrestling is not a team sport. When a wrestler tires there is no substitute team member to send in. Wrestling involves intimate, face to face, personal contact with the opponent. The same is true in the spirit world. Believers are involved in intimate, face to face combat with the enemy. No other believer can take your place in this spiritual combat. There are no "time outs" in wrestling as in other sports. There are no "time outs" in the spiritual world either. Satan never rests from this war. The believer must never be off guard.
Galatians 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
1 Corinthians 16:13 "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."
No comments:
Post a Comment