II Samuel 17:38-40
“So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor, and he tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them." So David took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.” (NKJV)
Physical fitness is the all rage among health-spa people. Americans are not lacking in Physical Fitness programs or facilities. They are widely advertised and readily available. We are assured that we can improve our abs and our pectorals, even if we do not know what or where they are.
However, there is a more important type of fitness that we need to address and that is spiritual fitness. Why do we need to be spiritually fit? The answer: In order to fight the good fight of faith and the fight for the faith. Paul tells the young man Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith.” (I Tim.6:12) And, Jude challenges us to “earnestly contend for the faith.”(v3)
We have been challenged by the Call to Arms in Ephesians chapter 6 in the four previous messages. As we walked through God’s Armory we were reminded to “put on the whole armor of God.” One does not need armor unless there is warfare either present or pending. In either case, the spiritual enemy we face in the devil and his demonic hordes is a clear and present danger. Therefore, we need to, as the Boy Scouts of America motto says, “Be Prepared!”
The emphasis in some Christian circles is solely upon the believer’s welfare to the total exclusion of the believer’s warfare. The Devil is waging war 24/7 against the cause of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we Christians need to be spiritually fit in order to contend against the world, the flesh and the Devil and extend the cause of Christ in the world.
Are you fit for the faith fight? How can we, female and male, youth or adult, be fit? In 1st Samuel 17 we have recorded the classic story of David and Goliath from which we can learn some principles for spiritual fitness. The story of David and Goliath is one of the all time great adventure stories in any literature. And, since it is recorded in God’s literature, it is all the more fascinating.
On one of my trips to Israel, I was delighted when our guide took us to the Valley of Elah where David and Goliath met. I stood there by the brook in the valley and let my imagination recreate the confrontation between David and Goliath.
I imagined that giant of a man appearing and opposite him a youthful boy, dressed in a
shepherd’s tunic, carrying a staff and a slingshot and wearing sandals. Being there on the site enhanced the story for me. The sacred record graphically relates what happened next: David, “chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag” and “David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.” (1 Sam 17:40 & 50)
Who would not be intrigued by the encounter of a shepherd boy with a slingshot going up against an evil 9 foot giant? “He was a giant of a man, this Philistine from Gath. He wore a bronze helmet, a two-hundred-pound coat of armor, bronze leggings, and carried a bronze javelin several inches thick, tipped with a twenty-five-pound iron spearhead, and his armor-bearer walked ahead of him with a huge shield.” (I Sam. 17:4-7 TLB)
The Philistines and the Israelites, facing each other that day, assumed that this contest between the fair headed lad and the fearfully large man would be over before it started. However, they miscalculated. It is always an error in judgment when you leave God out of your calculations.
You know how the fight went: the giant was so big David could not miss! Before long he was stone dead. You could say he got rocked and lost his head! On Goliath’s tombstone could have been written: “Pride goes before a fall.”
