2 Tim 1:14, Protect*~ that good thing entrusted to you, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
Can you imagine the responsibility of the Secret Service, whose task is to protect the president of the United States? Their very lives are meaningless in this mission. It is an honor to take a bullet to save the life of the president.
The honor of being entrusted means to “have faith in, [or] to believe in.” God believed in Timothy as much as Timothy believed in God. The “good thing” is in reference to the gospel: “according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust” (1 Tim 1:11). God trusted Timothy to communicate the truth of the gospel to others: “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts” (1 Thes 2:4).
Paul did not betray this trust but took it as the mission of his life to proclaim the gospel across the Roman Empire. All who heard, believed, and trusted in Christ’s death as full payment for their sins were also entrusted with the message.
The phrase “that . . . thing entrusted to you” is a translation of one Greek word meaning “[a] deposit, a trust, [or] something committed to one’s charge.” The same word is used in 2 Timothy 1:13. Paul knew he was near the end of his sojourn on earth, so he impressed on Timothy the awesome job of preserving and transmitting the sacred text to others as it was given it to him.
Timothy was to guard the text or treasure by entrusting it to other faithful men and women who could teach it to others in an endless soul–winning and disciple–making cycle. Two thousand years later, we have the same text, the same gospel, and the same teachings, and once we apply it to our lives, we are commanded to entrust it to others.
The phrase “through the Holy Spirit who lives within us” is in the emphatic position in the Greek and should be read with great emphasis as the key to fulfilling the mission of the “entrusted” word. No Christian is without the Holy Spirit: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom 8:9b). How powerful is this Spirit? “The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you”—-it is powerful enough to resurrect Jesus from the grave, and He abides within us. He is powerful enough for us to count on for strength to communicate His word through the gospel. Will you take responsibility to deposit the gospel in someone’s life today?
“Keep my heart true to Your word and help me desire only what You desire and remember all that You have said in every circumstance.”