2 Timothy 1:14 / ESV
"By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”
I was recently reading the books of first and second Timothy when the following words captured my attention: guard the deposit entrusted to you. I felt something so powerful in this charge that Paul wrote to Timothy. Guard the deposit.
When I think of a deposit, my mind goes to a transaction one would make to a bank account. I imagine a business owner with a large money bag full of the day’s earnings. All of his hard work and sacrifice is in that bag. He charges one of his trusted employees with the responsibility of taking it to the bank, but before handing it over, he reminds the employee to guard and protect it. Don’t allow one penny to be lost. Watch over it and always be aware of your surroundings so that there is no opportunity to be robbed. Be sure the deposit slip matches exactly the amount the teller counts back to you – no discrepancies.
The value of this earthly example can’t begin to compare to the deposit the scripture here is speaking of, which is the Word of God and the teachings of Paul regarding Jesus Christ. However, it gives just a small visual of what Paul was trying to express to Timothy. Guard it. Treat it with great care and let nothing happen to it.
The word, guard, means to keep under close watch in order to prevent escape. We are instructed in scripture to hide the word of God in our hearts, to keep it so close and treasure it so dearly that it has no chance of escaping us. When we are careful to hide God’s word there, it becomes the filter for everything that flows from it … our speech, our intentions, our actions. “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:14)
Psalm 119:11 / KJV
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
1 Timothy 6:20 / ESV
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” ESV
2 Timothy 1:13-14 / ESV
Follow the pattern of the sound[d] words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
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