Hold Fast, Brother by Faith Perry

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 11, 1910

Hold Fast, Brother

By Faith Perry

FAITH PERRY

“Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Surely a simple injunction, an easy admonition to follow. Just hold fast. Do not try to go ahead. Do not worry over what lies behind you. You may have made mistakes in the past, but they have been forgiven: do not worry any longer about them; just hold fast where you are. Neither is the future yours to borrow trouble over. Your orders may change, and the command come to “press forward.” There will be time to worry over that when it comes; all you have to do at the present moment is to “hold fast.”

That charge reaches every one of us at some stage in our progress. Weary mission worker, toiling in a foreign land, ignorant of the language, labor barren of all results to human sight, be of good courage, and hold fast to the end; overburdened mother, struggling with household cares too heavy for your strength, there is One who knows all about it, and he says, “Hold fast, child, hold fast;” tired teacher, your pupil may be careless, idle, unmindful of heavenly opportunities, but you are not to give up, saying your task is vain.

“Hold fast,”—it sounds so easy, it means so much. If, with a rush and a flourish, we might invade the enemy’s country, surprising and confusing them, and shouting “Victory!” the thrill of exultation and joy would carry us far toward another conquest; but here, in this out-of-the-way corner in which we stand with no hope of any decisive battle, no way of knowing how goes the day, it takes courage of a high order simply to stand firm, face the foe, and yield not an inch,—pressed hard, but not discouraged, roughly buffeted, but not defeated,—just holding fast.

There is a promise in the admonition, but we have hardly time to think of that; the crown, seen through the smoke of battle, seems faint and far away; the glittering of its jewels is obscured by the clouds between it and us; we are holding fast, but sometimes we almost forget the crown. But let us keep our eyes upon it more; for, as we keep it in sight, it will grow more precious to us, more worth fighting for, its stars will gleam more brightly, its radiance give us light to see through the darkness; and when, “life and sorrow done, heaven and rest are won,” we shall be all the happier in the possession of that crown whose jewels are everlasting joy, infinite peace, and eternal life.

Kelso, Wash.