Killers to Keepers

UV 1762/10000 Killer to Keeper
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
Genesis 4 v 9
Human beings are either killers or keepers. A killer is moved by destructive motives, emotions, deceitfulness and selfish impulses. A keeper is moved by love, nobility, creativity, honesty ,empathy and sensitivity. The Lord is not only our keeper but He is also our brother’s keeper. We are so ill equipped to take care of ourselves, not to speak of others. Brothers are often moved by sibling rivalry and jealousy and do not care for their own. Cain was moved by the evil spirit of jealousy to slay the innocent and faithful Abel but the Lord looked for Abel and questioned Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain desired to eliminate Abel as the latter had won the grace or favour of God. Jealousy seized Cain’s mind and he plotted to kill him. A better blessing or a greater good coming to our own brother provokes us to jealousy and violence. The theme is often repeated in biblical history with Esau and Jacob, with Joseph and his brothers. The culmination is the birth of the beloved of God- Jesus. He is plotted against by the enemy even before his birth. Herod the king is moved by jealousy and insecurity to order the killing of all new born male infants in the entire realm to prevent the promised ruler and Messiah being a threat to his own reign.
The point being made is that it is only the Lord who can be trusted to take care of our well being, it is only the Lord who can be trusted. No earthly ruler or power or authority can be trusted but Jesus alone. As long as we keep faith with Jesus, He is our keeper. As long as we keep His commands and hold His words dear, He is our amazing and wonderful keeper. He keeps His promises to us and our successors. The innocent blood of Abel and his better and whole hearted sacrifice saved him. The innocent blood of Jesus and the perfect sacrifice He made with His own body and life has the potential of saving all mankind.
As long as we keep or store the law of God in our hearts, He keeps us from temptations. As long as we keep our faith, He gives us grace to endure every trouble and challenge we face in our lives. Like Abel, we need to offer our best consistently and diligently to the Lord and He would surely bless us and cause us to be a blessing as the faith of Abel is a blessing to succeeding generations and his example a forerunner to the sacrifice by the Lord of His precious son Jesus. Once we know that we are safe and secure in the hands of our Keeper , the Lord God, we are now able to take care of the interests of our brothers or fellow beings as if they are our own. We are rid of the lying or deceitful nature the enemy had planted in Cain and in any human being born since then. The nature of the enemy of our souls is that of a killer while the nature of God is to be a keeper. As the Keeper of the flock, He raises a sure and safe fencing of His words around us. We too imbibe this godly nature to become keepers not killers, enhancers not detractors. When scripture proclaims that we have become a new creation in Christ, it implies that we have been transformed from being killers into keepers.
Prateep V Philip