Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14
“The hill, though high, I covet to ascend,
The difficulty will not me offend;
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear;
Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
John Bunyan (1628–1688) in The Pilgrim’s Progress (Minneapolis: Desiring God, 2014) 45
The Pilgrim’s Progress is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. Today Bunyan inspires us to press on with powerful language.
Why post this as a meditation to spur readers like you to love and good works? It’s a fair question. This phrase holds the answer: “Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear…”
Biblical teaching and modern research both confirm that weariness and worry surface as top competing factors to living, giving, serving and loving generously.
In short, we faint or we fear. We grow weary and doing good because the road is hard. It’s difficult. It’s easier to offer bandaid solutions than to solve systemic problems. And we worry that in serving others our own needs won’t get sorted.
So, now you can see why these words resonated with me? “Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear…” We must encourage each other to not grow weary and to not worry.
And it’s a collective charge. We must together resolve not to give up and not to fear. We’ve got this. God’s got us. It’s the right way to go. And, though hard, it’s way better than woe, which is what I think the rich fool felt (see Luke 12:13-21).
Remember in when he failed to put in play the abundance God supplied? That did not end well for Him. So, while most speak at this time about year-end giving, I want you to ponder your year-end keeping.
Remember that God looks not at what we give but at what we don’t give and what it says about our hearts. Let’s not grow weary or worry, and obediently put in play what God has supplied to people and ministries He cares about.
“Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear…”