Guard What Was Committed to Your Trust

Daily Devotional – Monday, November 15, 2021

O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust.

1 Timothy 6:20 (NKJV)

When an exemplary leader exits the stage and another one takes over, the successor bears a heavy burden. The new leader must not drop the baton. He or she must carry on the legacy of the predecessor and, where possible, improve on it.

Once the development bar is set, there can only be one path – upwards. Consequently, the new leader must review the philosophy, secrets and blueprints of the previous one to understand how to carry on the legacy.

The same happens in the family setting. Parents, whether dead or alive, may leave wealth in the hands of their children. Whether the riches remain within the family and multiply, depends on the industriousness and integrity of the heirs.

Society is replete with cases of families that plunge into poverty several years after children inherit much wealth from their parents. Such a family becomes the laughing stock of the community because it could not hold on to what parents bequeathed.

Guarding Your Spiritual Inheritance

Spiritually, too, we must pick and guard the faith handed down to us by previous generations of saints. Here is Paul’s counsel to a young pastor he was mentoring, “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust.” (1 Timothy 6:20).

Paul wrote two powerful letters to teach, inspire and guide Timothy. In addition, even before Paul came into Timothy’s life, the young man had inherited a rich legacy of faith from his biological family.

Paul reminded Timothy, “I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” (2 Timothy 1:5).

Now that he had received a treasure of godly wisdom, Timothy was to “do the work of an evangelist.” (2 Timothy 4:5). The best way to guard the faith was to share it with as many people as possible.

The message to Timothy applies to us equally. We are to call others to righteousness. The best defense of the Gospel is to be on the offensive – spreading the good news actively. To us, God repeats the command, “Guard what was committed to your trust!”

How zealously and jealously are you guarding the wealth of faith and righteousness entrusted to you?

Lord Jesus, help me to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3).