“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who has promised is faithful. ” Hebrews 10:23
I was fifteen years old when I went to spend two cold weeks in Lubbock, Texas with my dad. I had three weeks off for Christmas vacation and decided to make the trip from south Texas to help my dad at work. He drove a tandem truck over the winter months hauling cotton seed from the gin in Springlake to an enormous seed mill in Lubbock. Because most of the cotton had been picked by the end of December, the gin would continue to run 24 hours a day in an attempt to separate the cotton from the seed before the temperatures began to warm up. This meant my dad had to drive that truck around the clock in order to keep up with the gin. It did not take long for me to notice all of the hard work that went into loading, hauling and unloading that seed. The first day was still full of excitement, but that quickly wore off when we worked into the night, the temperatures dropped, and that freezing wind from the west picked up speed and pierced through every layer I had on at the time.
That first night my dad asked me to hold onto a lever that latched the back chute of the truck. He had loaded the bulk cotton seed onto the truck (approximately 35K pounds), and that chute needed to be secured prior to unfolding the long, heavy tarp that would cover the seed. I clearly remember him asking me to take off my gloves in order to get a good grip of that steel lever. He turned the corner of the truck to climb the side rail and headed for the tarp. I kept the gloves on thinking I could show my dad the gloves would be just fine. After all, it was very cold and I did not want to hold that frozen lever.
Within a few seconds I started to feel that level slipping. I lost grip, the level swung open with the mounting pressure and about a third of the load swooshed onto the ground. My father came back around the other side of the truck and before I could say a word he gave me that “look” and proceeded to share a few words (all of which were in Spanish). I’ll spare you the details, but will say that we spent the next two hours picking up the seed off the floor. He was using a front-end loader and I was using a nice, old-fashioned shovel. It was a very long night.
The next morning, we returned from Lubbock for another load. My father asked me to hold on to the lever again, but this time he said he wanted to see my white knuckles. He asked me to hold on, then promised he’d roll the tarp very quickly, then return to help me secure the lever. I took off my gloves, gripped it and held on for dear life. It only took him a couple of minutes to unroll that tarp, but it sure felt like an eternity. I did not let go until he came around and secured it against the side rail. This time, he had some kind words (although they were still in Spanish).
The writer of Hebrews spends the first ten and a half chapters carefully explaining to the Hebrew Christians that Jesus Christ is superior, supreme and sufficient. In verse 23 God, via the writer, issues a commandment, “Hold fast to the confession of your hope without wavering.” He is telling these Christians to identify with the hope is Jesus Christ and hold on for dear life. These believers were facing persecution by both the Roman government and the Jewish leaders of the day. Many started to loosen their grips by publicly identifying with “Jews”, yet privately claimed their faith in Christ while safely surrounded by other believers. The writer was aware they had made a public confession of their hope; however, they were beginning to waiver by incorporating other strategies in their lives what would allow them to fit in, minimize the tension and avoid the pending persecution.
We are no different today. We are commanded to hold fast to that hope with our white knuckles clearly showing the firm grip, resolve and dependence on Jesus Christ. Throughout this study the Lord has been revealing various areas in my life where I have been loosening that grip, and caving in to the pressures, philosophies and other ideas offered by our society today. Many of these pressures are coming from within the church!
I encourage you to spend time studying this verse yourself, asking God to help you identify those areas that need to be addressed and strengthened. Have you compromised in a decision recently despite the promptings of the Holy Spirit? Describe some areas you are being challenged to compromise your Biblical values in the home. In the workplace?
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