KEEP ABOUT YOUR WORK
by Dr. H.M.S. Richards
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 surely 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, Annas and Caiaphas all combined against you, and Judas standing by 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 about your work!
Keep about your work, that God has given you.
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.
Keep about your work!
Let liars lie,
Let corporations resolve,
Let the devil do his worst;
But see to it that nothing hinders you from
fulfilling the work that God has given you.
Keep about your work!
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 falsehoods about yourself,
which Satan & his servants may start to peddle.
If you do those things, you will do nothing else.
You will be at work for yourself & not the Lord.
Let your aim be as steady as a star.
Keep about your work!
You may be assaulted, wronged,
insulted, slandered, wounded, and rejected;
You many 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 you gave me to do!”