Hold. Hope. Him.
Joseph Castaneda
Hold
I recently read a book about whaling adventures in the 1800's. More than once, a vessel was destroyed and men were thrown overboard in the harrowing act of trying to harpoon the giants of the sea.
In one particular account, a ship had experienced a disastrous encounter with a whale and an unfortunately ill-timed collision with a tropical storm. Many men were tossed into the sea and perished while just a handful of sailors were rescued.
One sailor found himself floating in the Pacific, coming to terms with his failing strength and the reality of being truly lost at sea. As he was contemplating death by drowning, a large piece of his ship came floating by and this whaler clasped on to it for dear life.
Days later, he was rescued by another whaling vessel and eventually wrote down his story in a journal. In it, he described how he survived at sea: he held on fiercely to that piece of wood.
You and I are not unlike that lost sailor. We are floating at sea, sometimes in a violent storm, sometimes in calmer water, but always floating. Our survival depends on our ability to "hold unswervingly" to the hope we have in Christ. Why is this hope so certain? Because HE who promised this hope is absolutely faithful in every word and every promise He has ever made.
Let me remind you to cling to the promises of God, and to hold unswervingly to the hope we have in Christ. Apart from Jesus, there is no thing, and no person, that can help us stay afloat in the world in which we live. So read the Word and embrace the truths and promises of God.
Hold fast.