2 Timothy 1:12

‘For which cause I suffer also these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him (‘my deposit’) against that day.’

And it was for this reason that he was going through what he was at present suffering. But he was not ashamed or in doubt or troubled at heart, for he knew in Whom he had believed and had absolute confidence in Him. He was absolutely sure, without a vestige of doubt, that He was able to keep under careful guard ‘the deposit’ that Paul had committed to him ‘against that Day’. Rome might be guarding Paul’s body, but Christ Jesus was guarding his soul. And his life and his future were safely in His hands in readiness for the great Day when all is put right.

‘The deposit.’ Some see this deposit as referring to the Gospel (1 Timothy 6:20), but in the light of his expectancy of death it is more likely that it means himself. It is unlikely that he sees himself as committing his message to God for Him to guard. It would rather be the other way round. Rather he has entrusted himself to Christ, so that Christ Himself might confirm him and bring him safely through to that great Day when all who are His enter into eternal life in its fullest extent. He knows that he will not be disappointed. Although, of course, having said that, the commitment of his life would included the commitment of his life work to Christ as well.