Guard Your Deposit

Have you ever had to carry something extreamly valuable on you that could easily be taken?

I have been bringing this trip up a lot recently, but last year I helped lead a mission trip to Africa, and we collected a lot of money for this trip to go towrds different projects on the ground

And it was great, but for some reason we could not wire the money for the projects to where we were working.

And it meant that we had to bring all of the money in cash (which was close to 30,000 dollars)

And not just that but I think I have shared this, because I do not normally touch any money thats church or ministry related as our church policy and to keep me accountable

But this time I had to pick up the 30,000 dollars and not just that, but I had to hold onto all of it, until our next team meeting which was 2 or 3 weeks away.

And not just that but I had to travel with close to 10,000 dollars

And obviusly when it wasn’t needing to be moved it was in a safe right?

But whenever I had to do somthing with the money I was scared to death.

Because I am thinking do the people around me know what I have?

If I leave the house and someone finds out I have 30,000 dollars in the house thats not good right?

If I loose it am I going to jail?

And because of this I was constantly checking my pocket or making sure the safe was not touched,

Because when you have something valuable thats vulnerable you protect it right?

And I want to start out by reading just one verse from our passage that we are in which is 1 Timothy 6:12-13 and then part of verse 20.

And I am actually just going to read that last part which is the first part of verse 20.

And the reason I am reading this first, is because I believe this sums up everything we are talking about today.

And even on a larger level then that, it sums up a lot of what we read throughout this book.

Because it says this:

1 Timothy 6:20 (ESV)

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you…”

So we see Paul writing to this young guy he has been mentoring and this is one of the last things he says which is “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted with you”

And whats amazing is Paul is not talking about some sort of fund or anything like this, but he is saying Timothy God has given you amazing talent, He has given you this amazing message, and so much more.

Do not let it go to waste and do not misuse or loose it.

And let me just start with this because each of you have somthing priceless, that is a million times more valuable than any amount of money.

And thats first off your life, your life is invaluable

Your family is invaluable

Your job is a gift

friends

ministry

Whatever it is God has given you these amazing things.

And when there is something valuable it is so important to keep an eye on it, isn’t it?

And I can just picture Paul saying “O Timothy, Please guard this gift you have been given”

Use it how its meant, don’t allow things to creep in that could destroy it,

Guard it.

And so I want us to look at the the other part of this passage because Paul gives us three really simple ways to protect what we have been given.

And so lets look at verse 11 because it says this:

1 Timothy 6:11 ESV

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

So really fast as a side note, its kind of scary how he addresses Paul, because he says but as for you, oh man of God.

If I went up to you and said but as for you, Oh woman or man of God, that would probably make you feel a little weird, because we would say am I worthy to be called a person of God, but its only because of his Grace right?

And so he says first off to flee these things that are sinful or toxic for our lives.

And he is saying this not as a control thing, but because we believe sin separates us from God, and if we believe God is the giver of life it can be destructive when we separate ourselves from it, cant it?

And you might say well what I am doing does not seem super destructive, I mean I gossip all the time, I watch this all the time, I insrt the blank all the time.

And can I just share this, because I read a story awhile back (and I may have shared this before) but it talked about a museem that had this really odd exhibit.

It had a chair and facing that chair was actually a gun.

And this gun had a timer where it could go off at anytime.

It could be 10 seconds, it could be a few days, it could be years from now or even centries from now,

But no one knew when it would go off, and the exhibit was you could sit down in the chair for up to a minute.

And you would think no one would want to sit in this chair, but wants so interesting, it people actually lined up to sit in this chair,

Because they wanted the thrill of their minute in the chair, even though the results could be detromental.

And here is what I want you to hear, because sometimes we go this thing does not seem to bad.

I mean it does not effect anyone to badly, my spouse doesn’t know about it, I only do it occasionally, the chances of that it will impact my future are really slim.

But can I just say those things may be true, but everytime we are doing those things we are spending our minute in the chair and it is a mintute that we might be able to get away with for awhile, but at somepoint the gun will go off,

And it will be more destuctive then we can imagine.

As your pastor and a friend I am saying do not sit in the chair, because your to valuable, but when you sit their you often times bring others with you

And really your family is to valuable to put them in the chair, your kids, spouse, in some cases your job and friends, the person that looks up to you.

Guys they are to valuable to play this game with this chair.

I mean if you do not get anything else today as Paul puts it flee from these things.

Get away from these things that can turn your world upside down,

And I want you to notice somthing because Paul does not just say flee, but whenever you are running from somthing, you are usually running the opposite way right?

I mean if someone is chasing you, you might run aimlessly, but the smart thing would be to run somewhere that you know will be a safe or better place.

And so Paul is going do not just run away but run closer to Christ.

And Paul gives us things that do not take life but they are actually life giving

he says pursue rightousness, godliness, faith, love steadfastness, and gentleness.

And the reality is when we are following Christ and we arechasing these things,

It enhances the lives we are living.

Think about this ball. Its a soccer ball isn’t it?

I mean I can kick it and it will move, but its flat.

And here is the problem because sometimes our live or areas in our lives can look like this soccer ball.

Its there, but its flat.

We have a family, but everyone can’t stand each-other

We are married but there is very little love

We get involved in ministry but drama seeps in and all the sudden theres not a lot of righteousness.

And when Paul says pursue these things, its almost as if he is pumping this ball with air.

Because when in our lives we pursue Christlike rightousness we get more air,

When we are pusuring godliness or holiness we are pumped with more air

Faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness

When we begin to see these things flowing out of our relationship with Christm we begin to see these areas come alive and really completely change for the better!

I mean what would it look like to run from these things that so often our life taking and pursue the things that are life giving.

And lets look at this next verse because it says this in verse 12:

1 Timothy 6:12 (ESV)

12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

You know I love that phrase fight the good fight.

because if something is valuable and you care about you will fight for it.

And we really need to understand that this passage is not directed to the culture, but its directed to us right?

and can I just say that I really believe the biggest threat in our families, or church, or whatever is not the stuff around us, but its the toxic things that make their way in our lives.

Because yes there are times to take a stand on unjust things in the culture, but so often while we are pointing fingers at everyone else we miss whats happening in our own lives.

We are so busy looking at the spec in our neighbors eye, we miss the log in our own. (I think Jesus said that)

We need to be able to fight the good fight and Paul even says take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.

Meaning do not just sit around and wait for heaven, but experience parts of heaven now,

Because Jesus came not to just make it so we can go to heaven, but to bring heaven on earth.

I mean we pray that prayer a lot of times “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

But to often we go well I can have anger issues, because we live in a fallen world

I am stuck in an addiction, but its okay because I am a sinner

And we live in the identity as a sinner rather than a child of God.

What would it look like instead of making these excuses to fight the good fight and to as Paul puts it take hold of eternal life or allow the kingdown of heaven to come into that area and into your life.

And let me finish by reading the first part of verse 20 that we started with because it says this

1 Timothy 6:20 (ESV)

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you…

As we close I was trying to think of the best way to close and this might be a little bit silly, but I have a few people passing out 1 million dollar bills.

I have to be honest they are not real, (or maybe they are redeemable at the Buchanan Naz Coffee area)

But there are also a marker at the end of each row

And I want you to this of the deposit that you have been entrusted with.

Is it your family, a job, ministry, your kids, your wife, that friend, just your life in general.

I mean what are the things that hold value in your life?

Because I can guarantee that the things you right down are a million times more valuable then a million dollars bill

And as we sing this last song maybe you can reflect what are the things that are threatening this?

Are there things I need to be pursuing to help nurture this.

Because when we have something valuable we guard it and sometimes invest it so it grows.

And if we do that with money, maybe thats what we need to do with these amazing gifts that God has given us.

So as we close maybe you want to write it down whats valuable, maybe on the other side you want to write the things threatening it.

We are not collecting this, but I want you to put this in your pocket and those moments you know something is threatening this and wants to rip it, you can say no this is to valuable to allow anything to creep in!