On Holding to It
George H. Morrison
Luke 9:62
The thought of holding to things doggedly was one of the controlling thoughts of Jesus. That was why He singled out the plowman. Plowmen are not usually learned persons, nor are they often poets in disguise. But there is one virtue they possess pre-eminently, and that is the virtue of quietly holding to it. And it is because in Jesus' eyes that virtue is of supreme importance that He wants us to take the plowman for our model. "If ye continue in My word," He says, "then are ye My disciples indeed" (John 8:31). Something more than receiving is required if we are to reach the music and the crown. To hold to it when all the sunshine vanishes and there is nothing but cloud across the sky, that is the great secret of discipleship.
We see that with peculiar clarity when we meditate on the great word abide. That was one of the favorite words of Jesus. With those deep-seeing eyes of His He has discerned the wonder of the vine-branch. The branch was there abiding in the vine not only in the sunny days of vintage. It was there when shadows fell, and when the dawn was icy, and when the day was colorless and cloudy, and when the storm came sweeping down the glen. Through all weathers, through every change of temperature, through tempest and through calm, the branch was there. Night did not sever that intimate relationship. Winter did not end that vital union. And our Lord recognized that as in the world of nature this is the secret and the source of fruitfulness, so is it also in the world of grace. To abide is not to trust merely. To abide is to continue trusting. It is to hold to it-and hold to Him-through summer and winter, through fair and stormy weather. Nothing could better show the Master's vision of the great and heavenly grace of holding to it than His love for that great word abide.
Not only did our Lord insist on this; He emphasized it in His life. For all His meekness, nothing could divert Him from the allott ...
George H. Morrison
Luke 9:62
The thought of holding to things doggedly was one of the controlling thoughts of Jesus. That was why He singled out the plowman. Plowmen are not usually learned persons, nor are they often poets in disguise. But there is one virtue they possess pre-eminently, and that is the virtue of quietly holding to it. And it is because in Jesus' eyes that virtue is of supreme importance that He wants us to take the plowman for our model. "If ye continue in My word," He says, "then are ye My disciples indeed" (John 8:31). Something more than receiving is required if we are to reach the music and the crown. To hold to it when all the sunshine vanishes and there is nothing but cloud across the sky, that is the great secret of discipleship.
We see that with peculiar clarity when we meditate on the great word abide. That was one of the favorite words of Jesus. With those deep-seeing eyes of His He has discerned the wonder of the vine-branch. The branch was there abiding in the vine not only in the sunny days of vintage. It was there when shadows fell, and when the dawn was icy, and when the day was colorless and cloudy, and when the storm came sweeping down the glen. Through all weathers, through every change of temperature, through tempest and through calm, the branch was there. Night did not sever that intimate relationship. Winter did not end that vital union. And our Lord recognized that as in the world of nature this is the secret and the source of fruitfulness, so is it also in the world of grace. To abide is not to trust merely. To abide is to continue trusting. It is to hold to it-and hold to Him-through summer and winter, through fair and stormy weather. Nothing could better show the Master's vision of the great and heavenly grace of holding to it than His love for that great word abide.
Not only did our Lord insist on this; He emphasized it in His life. For all His meekness, nothing could divert Him from the allott ...
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