"Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you -- guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." 2 Timothy 1:14
A few days ago, in an attempt to steal away for a few quiet moments, I snuck outside by myself and relaxingly swung on our porch swing. My escape came to an quick and unfortunate halt after getting snuck up on by a sneaky little wasp who stung me right above my ankle. It's called a sting, but it literally felt like a needle being jabbed directly into my ankle bone.
The stinging and burning sensation honestly didn't last too long, but it was long enough for me to read online that pressing a penny against such a sting for fifteen seconds is supposed to alleviate the stinging. Well, that might work on everyone else's stings, but apparently it has the opposite effect on me. The penny trick seemed to make the burning reignite with a vengeance. Thankfully, within a relatively short time, the pain from the sting subsided and all was well.
What I learned about wasp stings was this. A wasp will typically sting someone or something for one of two reasons. It will sting something (insect, bug, etc.) that is smaller than itself if it is trying to paralyze it for a moment in order to get it back to its nest with little or no trouble. In my case, it stings something that is larger than itself in an effort to say, "I can see that you're bigger than me, so back off and let me be." With the smaller bug, it's operating on the offensive, but with humans, that's a wasp's way of defending and guarding their lives.
In today's world, we Christians are playing defense at every turn. We're guarding our marriages against third parties and outside forces that could threaten their stability. We're guarding our children against the lures of the devil and the sneaky ways he tries to ensnare them. We're guarding our emotions from betrayal, lies, and disappointments from our friends.
As important as each of those things are, I think Paul would say that there is an even pricier thing we should be guarding. As he urges Timothy to remain faithful and diligent, he tells him to "guard the deposit" that was entrusted to him. He's not speaking of a financial deposit here, but rather the deposit of the Gospel into his life.
Timothy had been a recipient of a valuable gift that was not to be taken lightly. He couldn't choose to haphazardly live his life anymore. Paul was instructing him to rely on the help of the Holy Spirit to be a living testimony of the message of the Gospel of Christ. Each day that he was granted was an opportunity to magnify God's Word through his very being.
If you're a believer, then a valuable deposit of Christ's message of hope and love has been entrusted to you. Just as you would feverishly guard and protect a valuable financial gift that was entrusted to your care, so should you guard the message of the Gospel that you have received.
So, how do we do that?
A few days ago, in an attempt to steal away for a few quiet moments, I snuck outside by myself and relaxingly swung on our porch swing. My escape came to an quick and unfortunate halt after getting snuck up on by a sneaky little wasp who stung me right above my ankle. It's called a sting, but it literally felt like a needle being jabbed directly into my ankle bone.
The stinging and burning sensation honestly didn't last too long, but it was long enough for me to read online that pressing a penny against such a sting for fifteen seconds is supposed to alleviate the stinging. Well, that might work on everyone else's stings, but apparently it has the opposite effect on me. The penny trick seemed to make the burning reignite with a vengeance. Thankfully, within a relatively short time, the pain from the sting subsided and all was well.
What I learned about wasp stings was this. A wasp will typically sting someone or something for one of two reasons. It will sting something (insect, bug, etc.) that is smaller than itself if it is trying to paralyze it for a moment in order to get it back to its nest with little or no trouble. In my case, it stings something that is larger than itself in an effort to say, "I can see that you're bigger than me, so back off and let me be." With the smaller bug, it's operating on the offensive, but with humans, that's a wasp's way of defending and guarding their lives.
In today's world, we Christians are playing defense at every turn. We're guarding our marriages against third parties and outside forces that could threaten their stability. We're guarding our children against the lures of the devil and the sneaky ways he tries to ensnare them. We're guarding our emotions from betrayal, lies, and disappointments from our friends.
As important as each of those things are, I think Paul would say that there is an even pricier thing we should be guarding. As he urges Timothy to remain faithful and diligent, he tells him to "guard the deposit" that was entrusted to him. He's not speaking of a financial deposit here, but rather the deposit of the Gospel into his life.
Timothy had been a recipient of a valuable gift that was not to be taken lightly. He couldn't choose to haphazardly live his life anymore. Paul was instructing him to rely on the help of the Holy Spirit to be a living testimony of the message of the Gospel of Christ. Each day that he was granted was an opportunity to magnify God's Word through his very being.
If you're a believer, then a valuable deposit of Christ's message of hope and love has been entrusted to you. Just as you would feverishly guard and protect a valuable financial gift that was entrusted to your care, so should you guard the message of the Gospel that you have received.
So, how do we do that?
- Take the Gospel message seriously. Never forget the costly price that was paid for your salvation. If we take the message of the Gospel lightly, then we are demeaning the sacrifice that was made on Calvary. The death of Christ is worth taking seriously.
- Share it with those who need to hear it. God has called us all to go and tell the message of Christ and His love and grace. We simply can't keep it to ourselves. By choosing not to share the message of Christ with the lost, we're being stingy with the priceless gift that we have received.
- Let it transform you inside and out. Accepting the free gift of the Gospel message is one thing, but living a life that is holy and pleasing before the Lord is what He desires from each of us. If the Gospel truly has an impact on your heart, then it will be evident in your life.
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