Hold Fast

Camp 3
About midway through the summer, I fell into a funk.
It got to the point that I started apologizing to people on behalf of my shortcomings and disappointing attitude. After apologizing to a friend for "making his life harder" he simply stopped me and said, "Who told you that?"
At first it seemed like a ridiculous question... no one told me... no one had to tell me. It was so obvious.
"You're not making my life harder" he said. That helped a little, but not a lot.
As I laid in bed, I just kept hearing "Who told you..." I opened my bible to Genesis 3: the fall of man. After Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent, they discovered that they were naked and hid from God. Genesis 3:11 says, "And [God] said, 'Who told you that you were naked...?'" They had been deceived. by the devil himself. God didn't tell them they were naked.
After reading this, I got out of bed and started digging into scripture. I had been deceived by the devil too. I had believed lies. lies about myself, my relationships, my work, and even my God.

There is a reason why God tells us to hold fast so many times in the Bible:
Deuteronomy 30:20 ...listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
Joshua 23:8 ...you are to hold fast to the LORD your God
1 Corinthians 5:2 ...hold fast to the word
Phil 2:16 ...hold fast to the word of life
1 Thessalonians 5:21 ...hold fast to what is good
2 Thessalonians 2:15 ...stand firm and hold fast to the teachings
...and there are many more

Get it??? Hold fast to HIM and His word.
All else will lead you astray and leave you deceived. If the things you believe are not from God, who are they from? Do not hold on to anything other than the truth of God.
In this world where the enemy is real, we can't afford to believe lies.
Hold fast to Him.