"We Are His to Keep"

Scripture: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand." -John 10:28, NIV

Have you ever been in a circumstance where you saw something that belonged to someone else and you were like, "I like that!"? Have you ever been in a circumstance where a person said the same thing to you about something you had? If so, then you know there are times where you have been nice enough to say "it's yours to keep". I recall meeting a lady at the job during training and she had a nice pen. I told her how I thought it was a really nice pen and when the training ended, she told me that the pen "was mine to keep". In the spiritual realm, God wants you and me to know on today that we are His to keep! How can we make such a statement? Let's take a look at today's text.

Within the Gospel account of John is where we find today's main scripture. John's account of Jesus Christ began with Christ performing His first miracle at the wedding in Cana (Chapter 2). Before discussing His first miracle, John established Jesus as "Logos", or "The Word" in Chapter 1 and the fact He dwelt among us. Within this tenth chapter, we find Jesus ministering from the theme "the Shepherd and His Flock" (verses 1 - 21) and discussing the unbelief of the Jews (verses 22 - 42). As He was dealing with the unbelief of the Jews, He gives us a clear rationale why we are His to keep.

To start, Christ says, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish". Isn't it a blessing to know that by being a child of the King, you have guaranteed eternal life if you desire it? Isn't it a blessing to know that because of Jesus, you will never perish spiritually unless you desire to? Jesus knew that because of the great sins of Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and others, that He had to put on flesh, come through the Virgin Mary, and serve as the Messiah, the Lamb, the Scapegoat, the Ram in the Bush, and everything else to save man (you and me) from our sins! Though He has not died on Calvary's cross, He is assuring us the perks with being His son or His daughter! Again, aren't you glad to know that Jesus gave you eternal life?

The text concludes with why we are His to keep. The text says, "no one can snatch them out of My hand". That ought to put some pep in your step on this morning! I can recall growing up how at times you may have had things in your hand and dared your classmates/friends to snatch it out of your hand. Depending on who you are, you either did not get things snatched out of your hands or you did and had to snitch or snatch it back. Jesus is telling the spirit of tattling, you CANNOT snatch my son/daughter from My hand! Jesus is telling the spirit of depression you CANNOT snatch my son/daughter from My hand! He is telling the spirit of low self-esteem, you CANNOT snatch my son/daughter from My hand! He is telling the spirit of fornication that you CANNOT snatch my son/daughter from My hand! He is telling Satan, on your behalf and my behalf, that he CANNOT snatch us from His hand! Just as the old song sings, He does have the world in His hands! He has you and me in His hands! When you fervent and firmly believe that you are in God's hands, you are His to keep! There's safety in His hands! There's power in His hands! There's peace in His hands! There's love in His hands! Aren't you glad that you are Christ's to keep? Aren’t you glad to know that Christ is not letting you go?

In closing, I appreciated the lady blessing me with the pen and telling me, "it's yours to keep". However, I am truly blessed to know that I am His to keep! Because I am His to keep, He has promised me eternal life and that I will never perish! Aren't you glad to know that you are His to keep? If you are glad that you are His to keep, wherever you are, you ought to give Him a wave offering, a hand praise, or a Hallelujah just because He is the keeper of our souls!