Keep at your work
The Lord has given to
every man his work. It is his business
to do it, and the devil's business to hinder him if he can. So sure as
God has given you a work to do, Satan will try to hinder you. He may present other things more
promising. He may allure you by worldly
prospects, he may assault you with slander, torment you with false
accusations,
set you to work defending your character, employ pious persons to lie
about
you, editors to assail you, and excellent men to slander you.
You may have Pilate and Herod, Ananias
and Caiaphas all combined against
you, and Judas standing by you ready to sell you for thirty pieces of
silver;
and you may wonder why all those things come upon you. Can you not see that the whole thing
is brought about through the craft
of the devil? To draw you off from your work and hinder your obedience
to God?
Keep at your work.
Do not flinch because the lion roars;
do not stop to stone the devil's dogs;
do not fool away your time chasing the devil's rabbits.
Do your work!
Let liars lie, let sectarians quarrel,
let corporations resolve, let editors publish,
let the devil do his worst;
but see to it that nothing hinders you
from fulfilling the work God has given you.
Keep at your work.
He has not sent you to make money.
He has not commanded you to get rich.
He has never bidden you to defend your character,
He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood which Satan and his servants may start to peddle.
If you do these things, you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.
Keep at your work.
Let your aim be as steady as a star.
Let the world brawl and bubble.
You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted,
slandered, wounded and rejected;
you may be abused by foes,
forsaken by friends and despised and rejected of men,
but see to it, with steadfast determination,
with unfaltering zeal, that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being,
until at last you can say:
"I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do."
