Hold Fast!

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)


The profession of our faith, the profession of our hope- what is the profession of our faith, our hope?


Our profession is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the Son of God crucified and raised from the dead, even now living in Heaven, even now alive for us, ministering as our High Priest before God. This is our profession, this is our faith, this is our hope-- our Savior. There is no hope in any other, there is faith in no other. We have to HOLD FAST to this profession of our faith. Holding fast meaning what? Hold tightly, possess, seize, keep in memory.


Yes, keep in memory. We most certainly cannot grasp physically our faith, our hope. We must grasp it mentally, emotionally, we must KEEP IT IN OUR MEMORY. We much HOLD FAST, we cannot forget for a single moment where all our hope, all our faith comes from. This is something we need to keep before us always- seriously! I'm not joking here! I'm not blowing hot air here, or rather I'm not writing gibberish to be ignored for lack of understanding, for lack of importance. This is very important!!!


We cannot forget our hope in our Savior- not ever!


Life is going to throw instance after instance of trials and tribulations at us and some of those trials are so minor we call them simply- everyday life and we decide we can handle these little things all on our own, we don't need any help, we don't need to get down on our knees and bother God without little upsets. WRONG! In all we do we have to have God. It's a huge mistake to EVER think that any problem we have is a small one that WE can take care of. It's dangerous to start down that road. So the faucet starts leaking in the kitchen sink, no big deal. Yes, it's irritating but easily enough fixed- the inconvenience it brings is annoying, well guess what… that annoyance, that little irritating thing will effect so much else. What starts out tiny and unassuming can grow. If we leave God out of the small things we will have a tendency to take glory to ourselves when those small things are fixed. All glory has to go to God in all things! It's ONLY through God we even live to do anything at all!


We are proud creatures and the most prideful of all creatures, Satan, will encourage that pride and if he can't get us to take glory in the big things- he will endeavor to get us to 'pat ourselves on the back' for the small things. In all we do God must never be forgotten, never! When we wake in the morning we need to pray for God to direct all our actions, for God to go before us in all things, even the smallest of things.


We must HOLD FAST the PROFESSION OF OUR FAITH. This is no idle statement. This is a powerful verse. We must forever and ever and ever in all things hold fast to our Savior, to let go of our Savior, to let go of the hope we have in our Savior, would be like a soldier dropping all his armor, all his protection, right in the middle of a raging battle. What do you think the result of that would be? If that soldier isn't instantly killed you can be assured that he will quickly be injured.


We forget so easily that we are living with our lives immersed in a spiritual battle- a raging battle where there is no retreat, no respite, no leaves. This spiritual battle rages on continuously and will continue to do so until our Savior returns to take us to heaven with Him.


Is it any wonder we are admonished to HOLD FAST WITHOUT WAVERING?! When the big picture becomes clear we can understand how much these words mean. When our eyes are truly open to see the spiritual realm we live in we know that only our Savior matters, only holding fast to our hope found in our Lord is truly important, all else is nothing.


In holding fast to our profession of faith- we will live as Jesus would have us live. We cannot waver, we cannot set down that hope for even a moment, we cannot dare to walk in this wicked spiritual realm without our Savior, we just can't. He is our protection, He is our SAVIOR- SAVING US! How stupid and how deadly it would be to step away from our Savior, from our Protector in the middle of the battle we live in. Just because we are not in the flesh in the middle of the battle field we forget we are in a battle. It's easy to forget the spiritual.


Right now, wherever you are as you read this, you are in the battle. Don't laugh, you are. No, it doesn't feel like we're in a battle, at least not for the majority of people. Why? Because they don't realize life is a real battle, just living is a real battle. Sure if you're in the midst of what we call a crisis you are more in tuned to the reality of life's battles, but if your life is at an even keel or even on an upswing, the tendency to forget the battle is great. How can we imagine we are in a war when we are laughing and having a good time? No, I'm not saying we are not to laugh or enjoy life, I’m not saying that at all, but seriously- shouldn't our laughter and enjoyment be found in the things our Savior would laugh and enjoy? If the things we laugh at and enjoy aren't the sort that our Savior can take part in what does that say about us? Yes, laughter is good- who doesn't know this verse or a version of it-


Pro 17:22 'A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…'


So, no, I’m not saying we aren't to laugh and enjoy life but we can never forget we are in a battle, a spiritual battle and in that spiritual battle unlike any conventional form of warfare we have to realize that even things that are seemingly innocuous can be deadly, even laughter, even enjoyment can lead to death, can lead us away from Christ and not to Him. The enemy of this battle will use ANY means to get us from Christ and we can't ignore that fact. We aren't just face to face with our opponent on a battlefield as we dodge bullets, we are face to face with our opponent when we are with others and a tasteless joke is made, when gossip begins, when coveting is underway, when jealousy rears up, when loud laughter at another's expense is going on - we can find our enemy in all those things and trust me on this… our enemy is everywhere wearing many disguises, calling evil good at every turn. So if the Holy Spirit convicts you even in the tiniest way that something you are involved in (even a conversation) isn't Godly then you need to remember you are in a battle and the enemy is at your door, in your face, trying to thrust a spiritual sword into your back, front, it doesn't matter to him. We need to pray for guidance when we find ourselves in those situations. We need to pray hard… remember the Christian (spiritual) armor we are to wear--after the armor is put on we are told to pray always.


Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit


Spiritual armor for a very real spiritual battle. We are not just flesh, we are flesh and spirit beings too many forget the spiritual part of our existence and they look for so much to fill that part of their lives that belongs to God. Nothing can fill that spiritual void but God, however, Satan will do all he can to fill that part with false gods, false religion, false truths.


Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)


Our Savior is FAITHFUL without any room for doubt. Our Savior's promises are true. We need to hold fast to our faith, to the hope we have in our faithful Savior.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord, our Savior, our God, our King, may we hold fast in Him now and forever without end, ever trusting in Him, ever loving Him.


Amen.