2 Timothy chapter 1: Verses 13-14 (NIV)
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
This is thought to be Paul’s last letter before his execution. It is fitting therefore, and not surprising that he wrote to the young man he regarded as a son, offering him encouragement to continue on in faith and teaching after Paul’s death. Paul talks about following the pattern of teaching that he had established. A pattern or a template is helpful when you want to repeat the same thing again at another time. When I find a new card style that I enjoy making, particularly if it’s a complicated one, I often make myself a template out of plain card or paper with measurements and explanations on so that I can replicate the style easier for other cards.
Paul had laid down instructions and advice in all of his letters to Timothy and to the young churches, and because he had done so, these are still used by us today in the organisation and functions of the church. It was inspired by the Holy Spirit after all, so why should we, and not just Timothy, continue to use the pattern, or template as encouraged by Paul?
But it was not just the example set by Paul that Timothy had to help him. He had grown up with the example of his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice. People who are young in the faith will look to other Christians in the church as examples of how to live out their faith and that’s why how we live our testimony is far more important than what we say. I know that as a young Christian I did seek to emulate the way older Christians in the church conducted themselves.
Paul also talks about guarding the deposit that Timothy was given with the help of the Holy Spirit. When we deposit money into a bank, we expect that deposit to grow with interest, however small. Alternatively, when we put down a deposit as payment for something, there is an expectation that there is more to come as a full and final payment, but the deposit reserves whatever it is we are paying for. We have received in part what Jesus has paid for, but in the fulness of time, if we guard what we have been entrusted with, we will find much more. What a blessing these letters that Paul dictated or wrote have been. We should be thankful for the pattern and template they are for living a productive Christian life, supported by, and contributing to, a healthy growing church.
Dear Lord,
Even as his life drew to its earthly close, Paul was still thinking of those, like Timothy, who would continue the work after he had gone. Thank You for his faithful example which is as relevant a pattern today as it was then. Help me therefore to stick to that pattern with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.