Day 2: The incarnate wisdom
“Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life” (Proverbs 4:13).
Faith may be well described as taking hold upon divine instruction. God has condescended to teach us, and it is ours to hear with attention and receive His words; and while we are hearing faith comes, even that faith which saves the soul.
To take “fast hold” is an exhortation which concerns the strength, the reality, the heartiness, and the truthfulness of faith, and the more of these the better. If to take hold is good, to take fast hold is better.
Even a touch of the hem of Christ’s garment causeth healing to come to us, but if we want the full riches which are treasured up in Christ, we must not only touch but take hold; and if we would know from day to day to the very uttermost all the fulness of His grace, we must take fast hold, and so maintain a constant and close connection between our souls and the eternal fountain of life. It were well to give such a grip as a man gives to a plank when he seizes hold upon it for his very life— that is a fast hold indeed.
We are to take fast hold of instruction, and the best of instruction is that which comes from God; the truest wisdom is the revelation of God in Christ Jesus: of that, therefore, we are to take fast hold. The best understanding is obedience to the will of God and a diligent learning of those saving truths which God has set before us in his word: so that in effect we are exhorted to take hold of Christ Jesus our Lord, the incarnate wisdom in whom dwelleth all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
We are not to let him go, but to keep him and hold Him, for He is our life. Does not John in his gospel tell us that the Word is our light or instruction and at the same time our life? “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” The more we abide in the Lord Jesus, and the more firmly we take hold upon Him, the better will it be for us in a thousand ways...
~ C.H. Spurgeon~ The Hold Fast ~ June 9, 1878
Follow the path of Jesus,
Walk where His footsteps lead;
Keep in His beaming presence,
Every counsel heed.
Watch, while the hours are flying,
Ready some good to do;
Quick, while His voice is calling,
Yield obedience true!
Cling to the hand of Jesus,
All through the day and night;
Dark though the way and dreary,
He will guide you right.
Live for the good of others,
Helpless, oppressed and wrong;
Lift them from depths of sorrow,
In His strength be strong!
Take up the cross of Jesus,
Sharing the shame He bore;
Self and the world denying,
Love the Savior more.
Tell all the world of Jesus,
Think of their gloom and loss,
Tell of His great salvation,
Glory in His cross.
~ Christopher R. Blackall ~1878
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