13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

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

REFLECTIONS

Written by Omar Dewan

In March this year, Valerie and I travelled to Peru and explored the area of Cusco, which was the capital of the great Incan Empire. We learned that the Spanish came to Peru in the early 1500s in search of treasure – it’s estimated that the Incan Empire had over $1 billion AUD in gold and other precious metals. The Spanish placed high monetary value on these metals, but to the Incas it had no monetary value – gold wasn’t considered to be treasure, but rather it was used for political, religious and ceremonial purposes. I thought it was interesting that the same object could be valued so differently by different groups.

Today’s passage in 2 Timothy 1 rounds out Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to not be ashamed of Paul’s testimony and of the gospel. In the passage today, the part that sticks out to me is in verse 14 – “Guard the treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us”.

It is easy to be distracted by the things of this world like career, money and relationships, and view them as our greatest treasure. I know for myself, it’s so easy to be distracted with talk about career and promotions, and it’s common to hear from others that the gospel has little-to-no value (like those who deserted Paul in Asia). But I am reminded today that the gospel is the greatest treasure there was, is and ever will be! As we heard earlier in 2 Timothy 1:9-10, Jesus has saved us and called us to a holy calling, by God’s own purposes before time began. Jesus has defeated death and shown us the way to eternal life with God – and this is all by grace alone, not because of our works!

I need the Spirit’s help to continually sustain my hope in God and to not desert Him. I need the Spirit’s help to continually view the gospel as the priceless treasure that it is – and not to place anything else above that, or to minimise the value of the gospel in pursuit of other things. Why not pray with me for these things, and that we would continue to seek God’s kingdom wherever we are?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Omar is a member of our Fairfield Evening congregation.