Do you ever feel like you have a job too big for you? I do, that for sure. That’s exactly where the Apostle Paul was when he wrote to his mentee, Timothy, in 1 Timothy 1:12-20. This passage isn’t just an old letter; it’s a vital lesson about trust.
Paul starts by saying, “I’m grateful that Christ actually trusted me enough to put me in his service!” (v. 12, CEB). Think about that for a second. Paul wasn’t a saint; he was a notorious enemy of the church—a “persecutor, and a man of violence.” But God’s grace was so huge that it “overflowed in him.”
Here’s a key takeaway for us: if Christ could trust someone with Paul’s past, He certainly trusts you and me with the Gospel today! This isn’t just a sweet story; it’s a sacred assignment—Paul calls it an entrustment. Because we’ve received this amazing grace, we have a job: to “fight the good fight” and keep both our faith and our integrity intact. Paul warns against people like Hymenaeus who “shipwrecked” their faith by tossing their conscience overboard.
We aren’t just holding the Gospel for ourselves. We’re holding what amounts to a gospel baton that needs to be passed on. Our mission is to live in such a way that the next generation can receive this message intact and run their race with it. Let’s make sure we’re not the ones who drop the baton!