Read John 17:6-8
“I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word” (v. 6).
They were “keepers of the flag” when they planted it on the tiny sulfuric island called Iwo Jima because they considered what it stands for worth defending to the death. And 6,800 heroic American servicemen did just that in that brutal, pivotal battle for freedom during World War II.
The word “kept” in this verse means to cherish and protect, a state of grace that goes beyond mere belief in truth. It is defined by a commitment to embrace, obey, and defend that truth; to allow no shift or compromise of that which is absolute. It is to defend, as the final authority, the Word of the Father as depicted in Jesus. It means stepping up and planting the standard of the gospel on the ground of those who would abolish it. Jesus is pure divine truth in human form, the living verbatim message of Almighty God to us. As His disciples would do, we must live and die in allegiance to the keeping of His life-giving Word. (R. Wayne Skeen, II)
What is God today leading you to do as a true Word-Keeper?
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