Hold Fast Without Wavering

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23, NKJV).

Hold fast is a blood and guts military term. It was meant to be. There is nothing ambiguous or wishy-washy about it. It is what soldiers do to defend a hard won battlefield, no matter what the personal cost. 

Without wavering is from the Greek word, aklines (ak-lee-nace'), which is the absolute negation of another Greek word, klino (klee'-no), meaning s to fall back, bow down, or wear away (the a- prefix in Greek signifies the diametric opposite of whatever word it fronts). In other words, the divinely inspired writer of Hebrews is exhorting his readers to do whatever it takes NOT to fall back, or bow down, or be worn away from the confession of our hope.

This is ominous and fascinating in the sense that it emphasizes the war-like struggle, expressed in unmistakably martial terms, of the life-and-death battle believers will undergo, at some time or another in this fallen world - the unending struggle to simply hold onto hope.

God knows we will be tested and He is graciously warning us of that inevitability, and dictating our response - hold fast without wavering to the confession of our hope.

That word, confession, is also extremely interesting. It is homologia (hom-ol-og-ee'-ah), which literally means to say the same thing, to agree in the strongest terms possible. It is what we are commanded to do with sin in 1st John:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, NKJV).

And note in that passage, as well, the equally fascinating pairings of confess and faithful, with the one being what we humans do in the glorious face of God's faithfulness.

This is important. 

There is nothing more essential in the struggle to hold fast without wavering than to know that the ground upon which we are commanded to stand, in this case, the confession of our hope, is for a cause or Person about which there is absolutely no uncertainty.

The anguished parent watching over his critically ill child, the spouse facing the almost certain loss of her life's partner after decades, the child suddenly bereft of a loving family - these things are real potentials in this mostly painful, sometimes joyous earthly existence.

For a Christian to survive these tragedies in the faith requires the same energy, the same commitment, the same sense of noble purpose with which an honorable warrior faces battle.

To stand firm against all odds is possible ONLY when the hope of ultimate victory is based, not on our own puny and powerless selves, but on something or Someone greater than each one of us. Someone whose purposes, goals, and promises are sure and trustworthy.

And this hope that lies within us is a gift from the One who loved us and gave His own life to make us more than conquerors.

It is more certain than the sunrise; more solid and real than Heaven and Earth.

It is hope founded on the promises of the living God, whose faithfulness serves to define faithfulness itself.

Many go through this life blissfully unaware of, and inexperienced in, real pain or suffering, until it catches them unexpectedly and knocks the very breath out of their lungs. When that happens, as it most certainly will, their response will either be bitter defeat, or blessed hope.

For some, this reckoning awaits them at the moment of death, like the foolish rich man who thought to build himself more and larger storehouses for all his worldly wealth, not knowing that his soul would be demanded of him that very night.

For others, life is filled, or rather emptied, with tragedy and loss in heartbreaking frequency. 

Some times, maybe even most times, we cannot begin to fathom why one person suffers while another seems to prosper; why life is unthinkably hard for one, and a virtual picnic for another. 

But in reality, determining  the "why" of these things is not in our job descriptions. It is above our pay grade. It is the Who behind it all that matters.

And He wants us to know that He is with us as we walk through these valleys in the shadow of death.

And in the end, if we believe in what He has said in His word, and what He has demonstrated in the life and death of His Son, that faithful Someone promises to bring us safely home.

It is the promise that, if held on to, makes enduring all the tragic stories of this life worthwhile.

It is the ultimate happy ending.

And like the branch clinging for dear life to the Vine, all He requires is that we hold on. He will see us through.