Kept by Christ

Scripture Reading: John 17:1-12, Psalm 124

              Our eternal security depends upon the keeping power of Jesus, our Lord. When my sons were young, we would at times walk along holding hands, their weak, tiny hands reaching up to hold my larger, stronger one. Occasionally, one of my sons might trip and fall. Their grip would tighten on my hand as they desperately tried to keep themselves from landing face-first on the ground. Frankly, if their safety at that moment depended on their ability to hold on to me, they would have crashed and injured themselves. But because I was stronger, and because I was strong enough to hold onto them, even when they fell, they were safe. I’m sure that from their childlike perspective they saved themselves by holding on to me. I knew better. I knew they were saved because I held on to them.

              In His “High Priestly Prayer,” Jesus tells the Father, “I kept them in your name…I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost…” (John 17:12). David says the same kind of thing in Psalm 124. He approaches it from the perspective of the one being held. “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side...”

              We are kept because we have a Keeper capable and willing to keep us safe in this world.