Guarding the Deposit

UV 2759/10000 Guarding the Deposit
That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us
2 Timothy 1 v 14
We are to guard the good deposit of faith that was entrusted to us, with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Our faith in Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life is like a deposit of pure gold in our hearts. Gold attracts the thief and robber- satan. The latter focussed his attention on all the means by which he can steal or rob or kill our faith and take away our peace and blessings. Like a cunning fox finds or makes a hole in the fencing to make away with a farmer’s chicken, he will try to find holes in our spiritual fencing either a weak belief, a gnawing doubt, a paralysing fear or a false teaching or temptation or trouble that discourages us. We are to discern these attacks with the guidance and spiritual discernment that the Holy Spirit gives us. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will guard us from every type of attack and strengthen us in our area or time of spiritual vulnerability.
Faith is also compared by Jesus to the good seed and the attempts of the common enemy of our souls as weeds. The weeds may even be something not inherently evil or reprehensible. For the good is often enemy to the best. The enemy plants these to distract us from our purpose and we need to be wary not to give room for it. The good seed has to be planted in the good soil of our hearts. It needs to be fenced and watered with the word day and night for it to grow and bear fruit. The enemy is satisfied if he is not able to crush the seed in our hearts or to destroy our faith if he can thwart the growth to maturity and fruitfulness of our faith.
Scripture adds to the deposit of our faith and we need to keep adding to our stock of knowledge of scripture. The more we know of the Lord and of His love and all His ways, the more our faith expands. The more our faith grows, the richer we are in spiritual terms. These are the riches that neither age nor moth nor rust can destroy. Like good wine, the older it gets, the better it tastes. The more specific verses we store up in our memory and transfer it to our hearts by praying and claiming the promises, turning the instructions and principles into our way of life and meditating on its inner and total meaning, the more the deposit grows. We are to use the gold deposit of faith to buy from the Lord that which we need- spiritual wisdom and grace to overcome evil. We are also to lend from our deposit of faith to others who are poor or weak in faith. We are not to bury our faith but to use it to multiply the blessings in our lives and the lives of all whom the Lord brings in touch with us.
Prateep V Philip