Keeper

“… for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”  2 Timothy 1:12b

God is a “Keeper!”  He keeps His promises.  He keeps our inheritance secure.  He keeps His people.  He keeps all that we entrust to His care.  This is a view of God that surely helps transform us into Christ-likeness.  Humanity stands in stark contrast.  We often fail to keep our promises.  We tend to squander eternal riches to ‘keep’ fleeting earthly treasures.  We keep records of wrongs to even the score.  God keeps a record book but it is the Book of Life.  Our Keeper specializes in what is good, lovely and of eternal worth.  Becoming more like our ‘Keeper’ produces an abundant life with eternal fruit!

So how does the Father fulfill His role as Keeper?  Scripture tells us God keeps watch over us day and night.  He does not sleep or go on breaks.  His watchful eyes keep us in sight at all times.  We must keep our eyes fixed upon Him as well.  Sin began with a look in the Garden of Eden:  Eve looked at the fruit.  Sin still begins with a look.  Let us be determined to keep our eyes from temptations and fixed upon the Lord.

Our Keeper also steadies our feet on the paths we tread.  He keeps our feet from stumbling on the rock-strewn pathways and keeps us from falling off the treacherous precipices.  There is no path He does not see, no barrier too large for His perfect purposes.  Placing our steps in the pattern of the Savior requires the Keeping power of the Father.  We would grow weary, falter and fall without the Keeper.  The Word guides us in the ways we should go; the Keeper assures our safe arrival.

While the watch-care and protection of the Keeper comforts most, the idea of the Lord keeping match over our mouths is a bit more intimidating.  We can convince ourselves quite easily, though often wrongly, that our eyes are on the Lord and our feet on His paths.  The unruliness of the mouth is another matter!  Even scripture attests to the wild nature of the tongue and the difficulty of taming it.  Yet God also tells us we are accountable for every word that we speak.  If we will entrust the meditations of our hearts--and the words of our mouth--to His keeping, He will set a watch over our lips.  God spoke the world into being; words matter.  We all need Him to be the Keeper of our conversations.

Finally, the Lord keeps our light burning.  He is the Light of the World, and He lives within those who entrust their lives to Him.  His light is eternal and He allows us to shine forth His light to others in our world.  He keeps the light on that He might become the Keeper for others.  As we rejoice in the Lord as our Keeper, our words and actions will align our lives for abundant, eternal fruitfulness.