Being kept isn’t always the naughty idea usually associated with that phrase. In the Bible, the word means “being carefully watched over, preserved or protected” and translated “to KEEP, guard, watch, protect.” Many times this refers to objects in human care but it also describes the way God takes care of His people. He KEEPS us just as this definition describes.
Jacob may have been the first to hear God say it in Genesis 28:15. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
One OT word translated keep is mostly about God’s people keeping His covenant and commands in response to His character. Because of who He is, we are to respond as reflections of His keeping quality because we are made in His image:
Exodus 34:6–7. “ . . . The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin . . . .”
A favorite verse for me is Isaiah 26:3. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” It asks for my faith and in return God guards and preserves my state of mind. I cannot be anxious or worry if my thoughts are on God.
Another OT word translated to keep has three related meanings. One is “tending, guarding, taking care” and used of God in verses like Psalm 121:4–8.
“Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
The NT words for keep and kept are similar in that they usually apply to what Christians are supposed to do in keeping the commands of God. However God also keeps us and whatever pertains to us:
1 Peter 1:3–4. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you . . . .”
1 John 5:18. “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”
After a description of gifts that God gives, 2 Peter 1:8 says, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is God’s assurance that all He expects from me is possible because of His keeping power. He takes care of me because He wants me to have a meaningful life! He even assures me that He uses all that happens to me for a purpose — a wonderful goal:
Romans 8:28–29. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. My wisecrack about being a ‘kept woman’ might put thoughts in people’s heads that are not appropriate or true. I’ve stopped doing it, but maybe need to give this another go because it could be a way to tell people about the keeping power of God. I am a ‘kept woman’ but not in the sinful sense usually associated with that phrase. My Keeper is the Lord God who saved me from sin, sets me free to serve Him. He protects and guards my life as I walk in His ways. There is no one greater to keep and care for me other than Him.
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