Holding to things doggedly was one of the controlling thoughts of Jesus.
That was why He Singled out the ploughman.
Ploughmen are not usually learned persons, nor are they often poets in disguise.
But there is one virtue they possess pre-eminently, and that is the virtue of Quietly Holding To It.
And it is because, in Jesus' eyes, that virtue is of Supreme Importance that He wants us to take the ploughman for our model.
If ye continue in my word, He says, "then are ye my disciples indeed"
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Something more than receiving is required to reach the crown.
To hold on when the sunshine vanishes, and there is nothing but clouds in the sky...
That is the great secret of discipleship.
~George Morrison