What has been entrusted (Abide Devotion for August 29, 2015)

2 Timothy 1:8-18

⁸ So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. ⁹ He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰ but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹ And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹² That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

¹³ What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

¹⁵ You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶ May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. ¹⁷ On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. ¹⁸ May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus. ^[1]

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What jumped out at me in this passage is what Paul says about the content of his preaching, the gospel, the testimony about Christ.   Paul is seeking to encourage Timothy regarding the Word, but his message encourages us as well.

What does he say about the gospel?

• Don’t be ashamed about the “testimony about our Lord”. This is especially relevant in a disbelieving culture as our own.   We are not to be ashamed to proclaim that God became man in Jesus Christ, died for the redemption of the world and rose to new life on the third day for the salvation of all. Some will consider it foolish, but this is the truth that gives hope. Do not be ashamed!
• The gospel brings to light what Christ has done, bringing life and immortality. The gospel is not just a message about Christ; it brings to us what He has done, brings to light the gifts that God gives because Christ has destroyed death and brought life to a dying world.
• The Gospel should be kept and guarded with the help of the Holy Spirit. In others words, don’t change it. Don’t water it down or blunt it. Don’t soften the greatness of the need for the gospel, nor diminish the immensity of the gift.

So this leads me to pray regarding the gospel that has been entrusted to me, as it was to Timothy. (And has been entrusted to you as well!). I pray that by the Holy Spirit, I will not be ashamed of it, but proclaim it faithfully, guarding and keeping that others might be blessed by the life and immortality in proclaims in Christ.

What is the Word leading you to pray about today?

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^[1] The New International Version. (2011). (2 Ti 1:8–18). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.