Young People—Choose a Path That Leads to Peace!

Duration: 3:11

I prayed to Jehovah,
“If it is your will, I would be happy to enter pioneer service.”

But I had to work really hard to provide for the needs of my family
because my father had died when he was 45 years old.

The elder that I talked to gave me advice not to be picky about what kind of job I could get.
He reminded me of Matthew 6:33, and told me not to be overly anxious.

Because of our good communication within the family,
we were able to find solutions.

My other siblings realized that they also shared responsibility in providing for the needs of the family.

After one year of pioneering, I was encouraged to apply for Bethel service,
and now I am in Bethel.

I feel that Jehovah really cares for me, loves me,
and appreciates all my efforts.

Because they love me, my cousins pressured me to choose a secular career.

If I went against their wishes, it would hurt them
and put a strain on our relationship.

I was really anxious.

I wanted to show my trust in Jehovah by pioneering
and give him an opportunity to show me that I can be happy in his service.

I tried to express my appreciation for my cousins by what I said and did
and showed them love.

They’ve realized that I have changed for the better.
I show more concern for others now.

Now they understand that we have been learning good things
and that we have a happier and more meaningful life.

I wanted to try serving where the need was great.
When I first arrived, I thought it was so cool being there.

I had expected the poverty, but when I saw it,
it hit home more than what I had expected.

So then I started to feel really homesick.
But my brothers and sisters—

I’d go to the Kingdom Hall and they were able to cope with the challenges
that they were facing because they had Jehovah in their life.

So their example really helped me to see
that my circumstances don’t need to change for my attitude to change.

Proverbs 15:15 stood out to me,
which is about having “a cheerful heart”
and being able to have “a continual feast”
no matter what my circumstances are.

And I found an article about that scripture.

And so from there, I decided to ask myself,
‘How can I use my situation and what I’m learning to help others?’

And I got to start helping with a foreign-language group there.

That whole experience just made my love for people grow so much
and definitely changed my life.

A Problem and a Solution

 

Edward Aljian: A Problem and a Solution

Well, you brothers and sisters from the 155th class of Gilead are not only about to graduate but will soon be heading toward your assignments, which we know you’ll enjoy. But life being what it is, you know that problems occasionally arise.

And one problem you might personally encounter somewhere down the road is difficulty understanding an adjustment to an organizational or theocratic arrangement. It could be a change in our preaching methods, or in congregation operations, or in branch procedures, or something like that.

Now, normally we appreciate these organizational refinements in harmony with Isaiah 60:17. And yet our publications and even the Bible itself acknowledge that at some point any one of us might find it hard to make that transition from the way we had been doing something to the way we’re now instructed to do it.

Now, why would we find it difficult? Because it affects us personally? It changes where we serve or what we do? Maybe that. Maybe not that. Maybe it’s just that mentally we’re finding it hard to grasp the sense behind the change. We’re loyal; we’re going to cooperate. But our brain keeps saying: ‘Why are we going in this direction? It seems to me we should be going in that direction instead.’

Well, if we have been given new direction and mentally we’re strongly inclined otherwise, then we have a problem, but we also have a solution. And that’s in Philippians chapter 3. Can we go there?

Now, here Paul discusses a problem that existed back there in some congregations. Now, was it a big problem in Philippi? Apparently not. But anticipating that it might be a problem for some individuals there, Paul addresses it right here at Philippians 3:15, 16. He says: “Therefore, let those of us who are mature be of this mental attitude, and if you are mentally inclined otherwise in any respect, God will reveal the above attitude to you. At any rate, to the extent we’ve made progress, let us go on walking orderly in this same course.”

What is Paul talking about? A major organizational adjustment—the shift from the Mosaic Law to Christianity. And Paul, for one, understood it. He was not mentally inclined otherwise. He left behind his attachment to the Law; any personal advantages that it was bringing him, maybe along the lines of prominence, prestige among the Jews. He left it all behind. That was Paul.

But it took some Jewish Christians years to grow to the point where they could leave that Law behind and fully adopt all aspects of Christianity. Why did it take them so long? Now, it’s easy for us to say: “Well, they were stubborn. They had a bad attitude.” And some of them did. There were some, for example, who wanted to hold on to parts of the Law just to avoid persecution. So you had things like that going on.

But think also of this: Prior to Christianity, the Mosaic Law was Jehovah’s arrangement for worship. So there must have been some Jewish worshippers who before becoming Christian were very loyal to the Mosaic Law. And being of the loyal sort, what do you think they did? Just obey the Law? No. They’d have taken it further. They’d have worked hard to cultivate a strong appreciation for the Law—a deep love for the way different features of the Law reflected Jehovah’s personality, his ways, his thinking.

Perhaps some invested years bringing their appreciation up to that high level. And now that they had, the Law suddenly goes out of effect. Now you can appreciate why it might have been hard for some loyal ones to process this change mentally.

Could something like that happen today? Yes, it could. Maybe you’re taught years ago, “This is how we preach, and this is why,” right? Or “This is how the congregation handles certain situations, and this is why.” Or “This is how we view certain branch procedures, and this is why it is the very best way.”

Now, being of the loyal sort, what did you do? You made it all your own—not just the arrangement itself but the reasoning behind the arrangement. If somebody came along and challenged it, you loyally defended it. And maybe it took you years to bring your appreciation up to that high level, but loyally you did.

And now that you did, the arrangement changes and maybe even the reasoning behind the arrangement. Well, like some of those early Jewish Christians, your very loyalty to a previous theocratic arrangement might make it hard to grasp immediately the wisdom behind the new adjustment.

Well, like we said, that’s the problem. What’s the solution? What can we actually do about it? Well, three things, and all three are right there in the verses we just read.

First, be patient. What did Paul say there in verse 15? “Therefore, let those of us who are mature be of this mental attitude, and if you are mentally inclined otherwise… God will reveal the above attitude to you.” So if you’ve made an earnest endeavor, a prayerful endeavor, to get the sense behind the change and for now you just can’t, set it aside. Be patient because the day will come (maybe sooner but maybe later) when the pieces finally fall into place for you and you grasp the wisdom behind the adjustment.

Now number two: Walk orderly. What does that mean? The study note for verse 16 explains that walking orderly has to do with moving forward unitedly as Christians. So in the context of what we’re talking about right now, walking orderly means supporting the new arrangement without resisting, without complaining, because what does complaining and resisting do? It’s walking disorderly. It’s promoting disunity.

So no, we walk orderly; we support the arrangement. Now, number three: Stay busy in your theocratic routine, because there in verse 16, Paul encourages all of the Philippians to keep making “progress.”

Now, the same is true of all of us. Certainly, there are many aspects of the truth that we do appreciate, we do understand, and we’re making progress. Good. Put your mind and heart there, right? Rather than continuing to obsess over something that you just can’t understand for now, stay busy in your assignment and stay absorbed in your weekly spiritual routine. It brings immediate contentment.

Let’s review. If we ever have a problem understanding an adjustment to a theocratic arrangement, we also have a solution: Philippians 3:15, 16. Be patient, walk orderly, and stay busy in our theocratic routine.

Now, I would like to conclude by illustrating that last point—the value of staying busy in our theocratic routine because it is the solution not just to what we’re talking about right now but it is the solution to several situations in life.

Now, the illustration is one that I heard several years ago at a Gilead graduation program. How about that? One of your instructors told us about the old steamboats that used coal for fuel, right? So upstairs you had the captain and the crew. Downstairs you have these men busy shoveling coal into the ship’s boiler, right?

Now, imagine one of these workers puts his shovel down and he approaches a coworker and says: “Hey, did I just detect the ship starting to make a left turn? That does not seem right to me. It seems that at this point of the trip, we should be moving straight forward, not changing direction. I wonder if the captain really knows what he’s doing. You know what? I’m going to go upstairs and have a word with the captain.”

Now, at this point, the speaker stopped describing the scene. He just leaned forward close to the microphone, and he simply said, “Shovel the coal.”

Well, that’s you and me, right? That’s you and me—we are shoveling the coal. We’re busy doing the work Jehovah assigned us to do. That’s what we’re absorbed in. We let Jehovah take care of Isaiah 60:17—‘the copper, the gold, the silver.’ We take care of the coal by staying absorbed and busy in our theocratic routine.

And then as Jehovah navigates his organization, he’ll also navigate us to the right attitude, to contentment, and to that most wonderful adjustment of all—from this system to life in the new world.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtGilead/pub-jwb-113_6_VIDEO

“The Gift of God”

 Paul Gillies: “The Gift of God”

Jehovah is the most generous Person in the universe. He is the Giver of “every good gift and every perfect present.” And no doubt you Gilead students have thanked Jehovah many times for the numerous spiritual gifts that you have received over the past five months. I recall what one of you said in your introduction, “Gilead is an undeserved gift.”

What I would like to ask you now is, “Have you experienced over these five months ‘the gift of God’ that’s mentioned at Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13?” Let’s have a look at these verses together. Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13 says, “I have concluded that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good during their life, also that everyone should eat and drink and find enjoyment for all his hard work. It is the gift of God.”

So this verse offers a very simple formula for enjoying life if we’re blessed with good health. There is nothing better than to eat and drink and find enjoyment for hard work. Why is that? Because it is “the gift of God.” Now, as explained in verse 12, the work which produces feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction is, you’ll note, “to do good,” that is, good deeds on behalf of others. As Jesus said: “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.”

Proverbs 8:30 also tells us that as “a master worker,” Jesus rejoiced, or as the Hebrew word for rejoice implies, he had a good time. Yes, he had a good time working with his Father over billions of years, creating the universe. Now, we may be a long way from being classed as a master worker, but all can enjoy the satisfaction that comes from doing good work in Jehovah’s service. And don’t you find that it’s this feeling itself that is a gift from God?

Now, if you’ll turn with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 5, verses 18 and 19 expand on this thought. Ecclesiastes 5:18, 19 says, “This is what I have seen to be good and proper: that one should eat and drink and find enjoyment for all the hard work at which he toils under the sun during the few days of life that the true God has given him, for that is his reward. Also, when the true God gives a man riches and material possessions along with the ability to enjoy them, he should take his reward and rejoice in his hard work. This is the gift of God.” Now, in effect, the Bible writer wisely recommends two things here: Work diligently from day to day and enjoy what you have right now. When we recognize that our prosperity is a gift from God, we get a lot of personal enjoyment from what we possess. And did you notice that twice in the passage we read, it’s stated that this enjoyment is the gift of God?

Now, in effect, the Bible writer wisely recommends two things here: Work diligently from day to day and enjoy what you have right now. When we recognize that our prosperity is a gift from God, we get a lot of personal enjoyment from what we possess. And did you notice that twice in the passage we read, it’s stated that this enjoyment is the gift of God?

Isn’t that a beautiful thought that Jehovah chooses to reward us for our hard work? And I’m sure you agree that Gilead has added an abundance of spiritual treasures to your possessions. In the coming years, you will find enjoyment again and again when you recall an explanation of a verse that you discovered during your personal study or that you gleaned from one of your instructors during a class lesson. Like travelers abroad, you have collected priceless souvenirs.

Now, if you’re still in Ecclesiastes chapter 5, let’s have a look at verse 20 because this verse explains how “the gift of God” can affect our outlook on life. It says: “For he will hardly notice [or as the footnote says, ‘remember,’ he will hardly notice] the passing days of his life, because the true God keeps him preoccupied with the rejoicing of his heart.” “Time flies” is a very common refrain here at Bethel. And isn’t that so true? When we enjoy our work, we hardly notice that our days, weeks, years, even life itself seems to fly by. Therefore, the advice is to savor the moment. As one famous quote says, “Yesterday is the past; tomorrow is the future; but today is a gift, and that is why they call it the present.”

And there are benefits to being busy. “The gift of God” can help us to protect our mental well-being. When we are preoccupied with interesting work, we don’t become unduly concerned with the brevity of life and its problems and uncertainties. Rather, we get so much enjoyment from doing good —like Jesus having a good time—that the negative aspects of life tend not to dominate our thinking. You see, we become joyful at heart. So enjoy that feeling. It is a gift from God.

Now, the past 20 weeks of schooling was hard work, wasn’t it? Your minds were stretched. Yet, hasn’t time flown by since you introduced yourselves to us on November 6 of last year? Well, now it’s time to relax—to eat and drink (in moderation, of course) with your family and friends as you reflect on your Gilead experience. So now is the time to savor the reward from Jehovah. The same wise writer also suggested a good balance between work and rest when he wrote at Ecclesiastes 4:6: “Better is a handful of rest than two handfuls of hard work.” Now think about that. A workaholic has no time or energy left to participate in restful activities that are designed to refresh and rejuvenate us. So we have to be modest about work, especially when we really love our assignments. The Bible encourages a balanced view. Work hard and enjoy the rewards.

We may thoroughly enjoy our work, but we must remember that work is even more enjoyable if we take time to relax and reflect with pleasure on that work. Now, since it’s likely that many of you will receive new and enjoyable privileges, which will increase your workload, this is good and timely advice from the Scriptures, is it not?

Now, may I invite you to turn to 2 Timothy 1:6. Because this verse conveys another positive dimension to the expression “the gift of God” as you look to future assignments. It says: “For this reason I remind you to stir up like a fire the gift of God that is in you through the laying of my hands on you.” Now if you look at the study note, it says this: “The gift that Paul here mentions seems to involve a gift of holy spirit—the imparting to Timothy of some special ability that helped him to fulfill his assignment.”

Now of course, Gilead students do not have scholastic abilities conferred upon them by God, do they? One of you even said in your introduction, “We’re just ordinary Bethelites living extraordinary lives.” Now, while that may be true, nevertheless, Gilead training has perhaps helped you to discover and nurture hidden talents that you never knew you had, true? Your instructors may have noticed if you didn’t.

All of us who enjoy service privileges like Timothy need to treasure our “gift of God.” Service privileges are expressions of Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, not a reward for months of study. In fact, all of our energies, our abilities, our talents may be viewed as gifts from Jehovah. And they have the purpose of doing good toward other people. Now, if that’s our outlook and that’s our motive, we will thoroughly enjoy our assignments. You notice too in this verse that Paul reminded Timothy “to stir up like a fire the gift of God” that was in him. No doubt you are fired up and you are ready to work hard in your assignments. But again, as explained in the study note, “‘stirring up like a fire’ implies continuous action; one scholar suggests... ‘to keep the fire burning at full flame.’” So we’re encouraged to put our heart and energy into our assignments. Be fired up, but don’t burn out.

The fire will continue to burn at full flame if we always remember to balance work and rest. So yes, the days of our life quickly pass. It’s a fact of life now, but only for now. In the new world, we will enjoy work to the full. The joy of living will get better and better, especially when we’re in perfect health. We will enjoy the pleasure also of consuming unpolluted food and drink. So enjoy life. Enjoy life with your family and friends. Enjoy all that you have now. Enjoy your assignments. Put your heart into them, but be balanced. The simple formula from Ecclesiastes will carry on for billions and billions of years, even forever. “Eat and drink and find enjoyment” for all your hard work because it is “the gift of God.”


https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtGilead/pub-jwb-113_5_VIDEO

What Do I Need to Do?

 Jonathan Smith: What Do I Need to Do?

‘What do I need to do?’
Have you ever asked yourself that question?
Well, if you’re like me, you ask yourself that question every day, sometimes several times a day.
‘What do I need to do next?’
But there’s a little bit more to that question, and maybe you haven’t asked yourself this in a while,
‘What do I need to do to inherit everlasting life?’
And maybe that’s a question you asked when you were first studying the Bible, and rightly so.
Or maybe during your course of your Gilead training, you asked yourself that question a number of times.
Well, in the Bible, there were two men who asked Jesus that same exact question.
Both of them asked Jesus the question in the last six months of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Though it was the same question, the answers were different.
Let’s look at the first one at Luke 10:25:

“Now look! a man versed in the Law stood up to test him and said:
‘Teacher, what do I need to do to inherit everlasting life?’”
Well, Jesus very astutely understands that this man is already versed in the Law.
He probably already has an idea, but it seems his motive may be more to test Jesus than get an answer.
So, what does Jesus do?
Jesus lets him answer his own question in verse 26: “What is written in the Law? How do you read?”
In verse 27, the man gives an amazing answer.
In one sentence, this man sums up the entire Mosaic Law.
He does it exactly the same way that Jesus had done so on two different occasions.
Well, Jesus is no doubt impressed.
He said to him in verse 28: “You answered correctly; keep doing this and you will get life.”

There are good lessons here for us:
When we’re talking with people about the Bible in our ministry, sometimes we may detect they have a little knowledge.
Flip the question back to them, “What do you think?” or better yet, “What do you read?”
Another thing we can do is found in verse 28.
Commend a person if they give a correct response.
Let them know that you think everlasting life is within their reach.

But this man has another motive surface now.
He moves from testing Jesus to wanting to prove himself righteous.
In verse 29, he says:
“Who really is my neighbor?”
Now, being Jewish and versed in the Law, he’s already got an idea on this one too, doesn’t he?
He’s probably thinking,
‘Is Jesus going to tell me what I want to hear
—that my neighbors are my Jewish friends, perhaps in my village,
especially those who follow the Law?’
Well, if so, that question would be a little limiting—wouldn’t it?
“Who really is my neighbor?” isn’t really the best question.

So how does Jesus get around this motive that he’s got of proving himself righteous and yet correct his viewpoint on a neighbor?
Well, as you know, there’s a beautiful parable here of the neighborly Samaritan,
where Jesus describes a situation here in verses 30, 31, 32.
A man is going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and falls victim to robbers.
They strip him, beat him, and leave him half-dead.
But by coincidence, a priest goes down that road but passes by on the opposite side.
The same thing happens with a Levite.
He passes by on the opposite side.
These are men who have responsible positions in God’s organization.
How callous! How insensitive!

There’s a good lesson here for us.
We may have responsible assignments in Jehovah’s organization.
Never allow that to cause us to become callous to another person’s needs,
even putting our downtime, so to speak, ahead of caring for someone.

Well, you’ll notice the Samaritan is very different.
In verses 33 and 34, he’s traveling this road and he’s moved with pity.
He approaches him, bandages the wounds, pours oil and wine on them,
mounts the poor man on his own animal, brings him to an inn,
and takes care of him, evidently all that day.
The next day (in verse 35),
he takes out two denarii (two days’ wages),
gives them to the innkeeper and says:
“Take care of him, and whatever you spend besides this,
I will repay you when I return.”
Two days’ wages—evidently he spent everything that he had
because he was going to have to come back
to give the innkeeper more—
all for a man who was a Jew
who would likely under normal circumstances not even greet him.

Well, Jesus then asked another question,
but this time Jesus changes the man’s question,
not to “Who really is my neighbor?”,
but to “Who of these three seems to you to have made himself neighbor
to the man who fell victim to the robbers?”
Isn’t that a better question?
It isn’t ‘Who is my neighbor?’
but ‘How can I make myself a neighbor?’

Well, the man gets the point, and he answers correctly again.
He doesn’t say Samaritan.
Maybe he can’t go that far, but he says:
“The one who acted mercifully.”

Now Jesus says:
“Go and do the same yourself.”
And the account ends there on a positive note.

Well, we learn a lot—don’t we?—
about talking with people in our ministry
and even in our day-to-day conversations at work
or with our brothers and sisters.
When others have a question, never belittle the question, right?
Simply help them to come to the right conclusion.
We never want to criticize someone for a motive that may not be the best.
Just kindly respond.
Maybe a parable, an illustration, will help them get the point.

Well, now, this isn’t the only time Jesus had to deal with that question, as I mentioned.
Let’s go to another occasion.
And this time we’re going to go to Luke 18:18.
And here we find that this man
is not well-versed in the Law,
but he’s a ruler, and the Bible says that he’s “very rich.”
In another Gospel, it also says that he’s young.
Rich and young and a ruler—not always the best combination.

But notice here in verse 18,
the conversation starts with him running up to Jesus on bended knee:
“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?”
Well, Jesus can’t let this one go.
You don’t want to call Jesus something that should be only true of Jehovah,
that is, a title of being a Good Teacher.
So he gives him a gentle correction there in verse 19.
And then in verse 20, Jesus, of course, explains some of the Ten Commandments.

But the man in verse 21 says:
“All of these I have kept from youth on.”
In other words, ‘What else am I lacking?’
Well, after hearing this, Jesus acknowledges
there actually is something lacking.
In verse 22, one thing:
“Sell all the things you have and distribute the proceeds to the poor,
“and you will have treasure in the heavens;
“and come be my follower.”

Well, that’s almost too much for him to take.
In Mark’s account,
it tells us at this point Jesus “felt love” for the man
because he clearly saw that he was sincere.

But although he was sincere in his question
he couldn’t do it, could he?
“When he heard this, he became deeply grieved,
for he was very rich.”
Mark says that “he had many possessions.”
Well, we learned a few things from this parable, didn’t we?
We learned that sometimes people that have good motives
don’t always have good qualities.
In this case, he was simply too attached to his things,
and that prevented him from gaining one of the best privileges
he could have possibly had in following Jesus.

So from these two accounts, we learned some things.
First of all, we learned that we can learn from a “Samaritan.”
Have you ever learned from a “Samaritan”?
I know I have.
One day many years ago, I was driving down the road and I had a flat tire.
I had a spare tire, but the tools I didn’t have.
So this is before the days of cell phones.
I walked up to the nearest house.
I said, “Can I use your phone, please, to call a tow truck?”
And the man said, “Well, why?”
I said, “I need to change my tire.”
He said, “I’ll help you.”
He comes out of his house, gets his tools, and in no time changes my tire.
As he’s doing so, I’m thinking to myself, ‘He’s of another religion, he’s of another culture, another racial background, and he’s changing my tire.’
As I’m driving away, I’m thinking, ‘Jehovah taught me something today from a “Samaritan.”’
So, what do we learn? It’s not such a bad idea occasionally to ask this question, is it?
Two men were wise to do so.
Unfortunately, at least one of them didn’t follow through.
But occasionally, if we say to Jehovah, “Please, what do I need to do to inherit everlasting life?”, we can be sure that Jehovah will answer that prayer, maybe through personal study or Bible reading, or it might even be through a “Samaritan.”

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtGilead/pub-jwb-113_4_VIDEO

Trust in Jehovah

 Gerrit Lösch: Trust in Jehovah

“In God we trust,” it says on U.S. dollar bills. However, according to the actual attitude of the people, should it not rather say, “In money we trust.” However, trusting in money or riches will lead to disappointment. Proverbs says: “The one trusting in his riches will fall.” As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we say: “In Jehovah we trust. Therefore, we will not fail.”

There are many reasons to trust Jehovah. We are all impressed by Jehovah’s works, aren’t we? This includes nature, and we are impressed when we look at majestic mountains, when we admire the beauty of flowers. There are ever so many different flowers in the world. Which one do you like best?

Men can make artificial flowers, but not real ones that reproduce. Men can make beautiful jewelry or other works of art; however, men cannot produce, or make, a single stem of grass, not to speak of flowers or trees. Should reflection on this not make us humble?

Man cannot create any living thing, but Jehovah can and did so. Jesus commanded, in connection with: “Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.”

Yes, Jehovah is the Almighty, and he created nature and man. He did not need to create nature and us in order for him to be happy. He existed before he started to create for an unknown length of time, as we understand time. Since when does Jehovah exist? He always existed. How can we understand this? Suppose there was a time when Jehovah did not exist yet. Then nothing would exist now. Why? Because nothing can come from nothing. The fact that we exist is proof that Jehovah always existed. It’s that simple.

Before Jehovah started to create, he existed all alone. But he did not feel lonely, did he? He does not depend on others or on things to feel happy. The Bible says that he is “the happy God.” Jehovah exists “from time indefinite to time indefinite” and has complete knowledge of the universe and history. Psalm says: “O Jehovah, . . . from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.”

Jehovah created the universe, the earth, and man. He desired to let others share intelligent life and self-awareness out of love. It’s not that he needed other creatures to feel happy, and he didn’t also need material things to feel happy. He was happy since past eternity before creation.

How loving that he created mankind so that we can enjoy life and friendship with him! And what an expression of his almightiness, his wisdom, and his love! It impresses on our mind and heart how great Jehovah is. When we encounter challenges in our everyday lives, meditating on Jehovah will help us to endure challenges and difficulties of all sorts and to trust him.

You soon-to-be Gilead graduates will seem to find this to be true when you are confronted with problems in the future. If you experience problems, then what? Pray to Jehovah. His ability to hear prayers is mind-boggling.

Is it not so that when we pray, we have the feeling that Jehovah at that moment has nothing else in mind or to do than just listen to us? But he can listen to tens of thousands of prayers in hundreds of languages all at the same time. This includes prayers, which are not presented audibly, but silent prayers also spoken in our heart and our mind. How awesome!

This really strengthens our trust and faith in him, doesn’t it?

The universe that Jehovah created strengthens our trust in him. We feel really small and insignificant when we think about how the universe got started about, as scientists say, billions of years ago. Let us consider a few facts in connection with the universe that expands, comments that were made about galaxies that move into empty space, empty space where no galaxies or stars are yet. Even with the newest telescope, scientists have not reached the border of the physical universe, behind which there is nothing, just empty space.

It is mind-boggling to meditate on the universe. Looking at the starry heaven at night, have you ever wondered how far out into space you’re actually peering or how many stars you can see with the naked eye?

At Psalm, David wrote about looking at the stars. He said: “When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have prepared, what is mortal man that you keep him in mind, and a son of man that you take care of him?”

It really can make us feel humble to meditate on the universe. How far into the universe could David and can we peer? At a distance of some hundreds of thousands of light years, according to The Watchtower. It is estimated that our Milky Way alone contains billions of stars. The stars move with fantastic speed. The Wikipedia Encyclopedia says: “The speed of our solar system circulating in our galaxy is about kilometers per second and as scientists found out, at the speed of miles per hour.”

It is estimated that a light beam takes about 100,000 years from one end of our Milky Way to the other end. If we look at our Milky Way from outside our Milky Way and from a different angle, we would see it like a disk, but we see it as a way because of the location of our solar system in the outskirts of the Milky Way.

In the book Guide to the Galaxy, it says: “It takes the solar system 240 million years to complete the grand circuit around the galaxy. This speed is an absolute speed.”

Astronomers estimated there are approximately billions to trillions of galaxies in the universe. But how many stars? It is estimated between sextillion and septillion, if it means something to you. You may wonder, ‘What is 1 septillion?’ Well, it is, as we can see illustrated, 1 with many zeros, that is, if you take a billion and you multiply that by a quadrillion, you get 1 septillion. Can you follow? It’s hard for me.

The Watchtower of raised the question: “Where . . . is the source of all the energy represented by the millions of stars in our galaxy [that’s just one galaxy], as well as the more than thousands of galaxies that make up the visible universe?”

The Bible encourages us to meditate on the universe. It strengthens our trust in Jehovah. The Bible says:

“Raise your eyes high up and see. Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one [of them] is missing.”

Well, who is that One? Of course, Jehovah.

Why is it good to talk about the universe since it is so hard to fathom its size? The universe proves that Jehovah is Almighty.

And this inspires us to trust in his prophecies about putting an end to wickedness, putting an end to the Devil, and creating a paradise on earth for all obedient mankind.

It’s good to reflect on what David wrote about Jehovah in Psalm 139.

In verses 1 to 5, David is confident of Jehovah’s interest in him.

Jehovah wants to hear from us. We can share our innermost thoughts. We can tell Jehovah anything without being embarrassed.

So let’s look at the scripture.

Psalm 139 from verse 1:

“O Jehovah, you have searched through me, and you know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You observe me when I travel and when I lie down; you are familiar with all my ways. There is not a word on my tongue, but look! O Jehovah, you already know it well. Behind and before me, you surround me; and you lay your hand upon me.”

So that’s a very impressive text, isn’t it?

In verses 6 to 13, then David tried to comprehend Jehovah’s greatness. It was too much for him. And so in verse 6, he goes on to say:

“Such knowledge is beyond my comprehension. It is too high for me to reach. Where can I escape from your spirit, and where can I run away from your face? If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there, and if I were to make my bed in the Grave, look! you would be there. If I would fly away with the wings of the dawn to reside by the most remote sea, even there your hand would lead me and your right hand would take hold of me. If I say: ‘Surely darkness will conceal me!’ then the night around me would become light. Even the darkness would not be too dark for you, but night would be as bright as the day; darkness is the same as light to you.”

“For you produced my kidneys; you kept me screened off in my mother’s womb.”

David is amazed at Jehovah’s wisdom in creating the human body. He gives all credit to Jehovah for his extraordinary gift.

Verse 14 continues to say:

“I praise you because in an awe-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was woven in the depths of the earth [figuratively]. Your eyes even saw me as an embryo; all its parts were written in your book regarding the days when they were formed, before any of them existed.”

So let’s read two more verses and see the effect it had on David and his complete trust and confidence in his heavenly Father.

Verse 17: “So to me, how precious your thoughts are! O God, how vast is the sum of them! If I try to count them, they outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.”

So we agree with David that we are created in a wonderful way, very impressive.

Well, think of, as an example, our ability to use language and thought.

We are also unique in our profound curiosity about ourselves, aren’t we? Different from all animals, we are unique in our ability to contemplate God’s thoughts.

This is one way we are made in God’s image.

Think of our eyes—a marvel. We have binocular vision—able to distinguish the relationship between different objects.

Think of our ears—a marvel. We hear in stereo.

Now let’s talk about the universe in our brain.

The book <i>The Physics Factbook</i>, edited by Glenn Elert, says (and I quote):

“Weighing around 3 pounds, the brain contains nearly 100 billion neurons.”

What are those? Nerve cells—100 billion neurons. If you don’t believe me, you can verify. Count them yourself, yeah?

The brain is the most complicated organ in the universe.

One reference work says about these nerve cells that they are as many as the stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

It also has trillions of supportive cells called glia.

Each neuron is connected to other neurons by as many as 40,000 individual connections, called synapses, between the cells.

The brain has more connections than there are stars in the universe.

(End of quote)

No question we are wonderfully made and all the praise belongs to Jehovah.

Being aware that Jehovah created this fantastic universe, the earth, and man, does this not help us to become more confident in our trust in Jehovah to be able and willing to help us when we face problems or challenges?

Should we face persecution or a ban on our work, then what?

Trust in Jehovah.

But Jehovah is not only all-powerful, he is also love personified.

Jehovah is very interested in you soon-to-be Gilead graduates. Yes, he is interested in all of us. He loves us.

He gave his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins and for the purpose of helping us to become perfect and enjoy everlasting friendship with him.

Jehovah had full trust and confidence in his Son’s faithfulness.

His love moves us to love.

“Love . . . is a perfect bond of union,” says Colossians 3:14.

Yes, it is the most powerful bond in the universe—perfect love bonding the Son and the Father together unbreakably.

For like reasons, God trusts his organization of servants, knowing that love would hold most of them immovably under test.

Psalm 56:11 says:
‘In God we have put our trust.’

Proverbs 3:5 encourages us:
“Trust in Jehovah with all your heart.”

Jesus is our best example.

When he was nailed to the torture stake, his enemies mockingly said:

“He has put his trust in God; let Him now rescue him if He wants him, for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’”

On the other hand, Jehovah trusts us as well.

How encouraging!

He trusts his organization of servants, knowing that love would hold most of them, or most of us, immovable to him, immovable under test, and that his organization of creatures would never stop doing so.

He trusted Abraham.

He trusted other patriarchs.

He trusts the anointed ones today.

He trusts the members of the great crowd with an earthly hope.

Yes, Jehovah trusts you, and we trust that you all will continue to trust Jehovah forever.

Yes, in God we trust!

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtGilead/pub-jwb-119_8_VIDEO

156th Gilead Graduation—The Inside Story

 

Welcome to this edition of The Inside Story.

Today we will get to know 6 of the 48 students representing the 156th class of Gilead.

To my left, I have Sister Hanta Razafimandimby from Madagascar.
Next to Hanta is Adalia and Mannie Luna from the United States.
To my far right is Shimon and Yoshi Hori from Japan.
And last but not least, we have Brother Marco Caproni from Italy.

Welcome to all six of you, and we look forward to hearing what you have to share with us today.

Why don’t we start by first hearing how long you’ve been in your respective Bethels and what your current assignments are. Why don’t we start with you, Hanta?

I’ve been serving at the Madagascar Bethel for 24 years, and currently I’m serving on one of the translation teams there.

Excellent. Adalia?

We are currently serving in the United States branch, at the Wallkill complex for about 13 years. And my assignment is actually a split assignment between Food Service and the Health Care Department.

OK. Very good. Mannie?

And I, along with Adalia, have been serving at the United States branch for about 13 years, and I currently work with the Service Department.

Very good. Let’s switch over to you, Shimon, please.

I have been in the Japan branch for 16 years, and my assignment is the Computer Department.

OK. Very good. And Yoshi?

And I’ve been in the Japan branch for six years, and now I serve in the Legal Department.

OK. Very good. And, please, Marco.

I’ve been serving in the Italy branch in Rome for 18 years and, actually, I’m serving in the Public Information Department.

Excellent.

Well, now that we’ve had a chance to learn a little bit about you, let’s start off with Shimon.

Shimon, I understand that you were baptized at ten years of age.

Yeah.

Can you tell us about what your father did to help you make spiritual progress at such a young age?

Well, my father was very creative.

Hmm. Explain.

For example, as a family, we enjoyed playing a game named Bible golf.

OK.

It’s a simple game. The winner is whoever can open to a specific Bible verse in the fewest attempts. So if I can open the verse in the first attempt, it’s a hole in one. Three attempts, it’s a birdie—something like this.

Another game I can still remember is the Jehovah’s Witnesses game of life, which is a board game with two circles on it. You can start from the outside circle, which represents non-Witness life. If you progress properly—Bible study, dedication, assembly or convention—you can enter into the inner circle, which represents the Witness life.

Non-Witness life—OK.

But there is a time limit called Armageddon. So when the alarm goes off, you can enter into Paradise if you are in the inner circle. It’s so much fun because there are also stumbling blocks along the way.

OK.

And your father came up with this game?

Yes.

Wow! Obviously, he was very creative. Did he do anything else to help you?

Well, when the Knowledge book came out, he asked me and my sister if we wanted to get baptized within six months. And we said yes. From then on, each morning he would leave the house, knock on the door, introduce himself as Brother Hori, and conduct a Bible study with us. And we had to serve tea for him.

Now I understand he wanted to teach us that a Bible study is a serious thing in our life.

It’s unique, but I was able to get baptized within a year.

Well, obviously it worked because here you are with us today.

Well, once you were baptized, was it always smooth sailing for you, Shimon?

Honestly, no, not always. As I grew older, I started struggling because I wanted to be exemplary in the congregation but I liked computers very much, so I wanted to be an engineer in an IT company.

Mhm. Big dreams, huh?

Yeah.

OK.

But eventually, the Timothy drama came out. And in that drama, the apostle Paul encouraged Timothy not to use his skill in Satan’s world but for Jehovah. That was the turning point for me. Instead of pursuing secular work, I started pioneering, and then I came to love it.

Oh, wise choice.

Let’s talk to your wife, Yoshi, for just a moment. Now, Yoshi, you were born in Japan. But I understand that you and your family moved around a bit. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Yes.

So my father (he wasn’t a Witness at the time), his work necessitated that we move around quite a bit. So I remember I was five when we were living in Osaka, in Japan. Then we moved to London, in Britain. We were there for four years, and then after that, we all moved to Scotland. So I lived in Glasgow for five years. After that, we all moved back to Tokyo. And later, when I was an adult, I moved on my own to serve where the need was great in Tanzania. I stayed there for six years, and after that, I moved back. And now we’re here.

And we’re happy to have you.

Well, now, you’ve gotten to live in some pretty fascinating places over those years. What did you learn about yourself and culture from living in those places?

Well, you know, when I was young, I honestly didn’t really appreciate it. But now that I’ve grown older, I feel that it’s taught me to understand that there are so many different ways of looking at something and so many different ways of doing something. But, actually, all of them are really, really good. And it’s a blessing to have so many different personalities with us. And I just love working with this variety of brothers and sisters now.

Well, obviously, looking back on it, you learned quite a bit. Thank you for sharing that.

Let’s switch over to you now, Hanta. Now, I understand that you were not raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, please?

I was raised in a religious family. We used to go to a Protestant church every week, and my siblings and I even attended Sunday school for a while.

OK.

Now, although your father never became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, how was he instrumental in leading you to the truth?

My father welcomed anyone who knocked at our door in the name of religion. And Jehovah’s Witnesses were among these people. Every time they stopped by, they would leave magazines, books, brochures. And what I really appreciated in those publications is God’s promise of a paradise earth. I really liked the pictures of Paradise in those publications, so much so that my siblings and I would trace those pictures, paint them, and hang them on the wall.

Your parents were OK with you redecorating like this?

One day, our father bought the Live Forever book from the Witnesses. And it was then that a Bible study was started. From the first meeting I attended, I was so impressed by the warm welcome I received that I said to myself, ‘I want to belong to these people.’

Ah.

Eventually, all my siblings and I, along with our mother, embraced the truth. Actually, one of my brothers and I got baptized together on the same day.

Ah, that must have been really special for you. Thank you for sharing that with us, Hanta.We’ll come back to you. Let’s go over to Adalia now. Now, Adalia, you were born, raised, and spent your early teenage years in Brooklyn, New York. How was that for you, growing up around world headquarters?

It was a beautiful, positive experience. Getting to see self-sacrificing brothers and sisters give all they could to Jehovah and also to see how happy and excited they were in their service was a beautiful example. This helped instill in me goals and really plant seeds and put in me the desire to want to live that same kind of life.

Oh, we could understand that. Now, eventually, you and your family moved to Florida. That’s where you met Mannie. You two were eventually married. You should have stayed in Brooklyn, see? But you met Mannie, and you two were married. What next?

So shortly after we got married, before our first-year anniversary, we started regular pioneering. Then after that, we were invited to serve where the need is great in a very rural part of Florida—kind of the orange grove region. It’s very different from where we both grew up. We were both used to the city life. But we went to that area and immersed ourselves in the congregation—a beautiful, young congregation—which worked hard in the ministry. And we grew to really love those brothers. And Jehovah blessed the hard work that was being done in that area.

How long were you there?

We were there for ten years. And during that time period, that one congregation that we were in actually turned into five congregations.

Wow! Five congregations over ten years, excellent! Now, Mannie, clearly you and Adalia—you were busy in Jehovah’s service. Was that the end of the extent of your pursuing theocratic goals?

No, not at all. Adalia and I made an effort to live a simple life so that we could give all we could to Jehovah without any distractions, and that allowed us to pioneer. It also allowed us to move to that area where there was a greater need. But to further make ourselves available, we applied to Bethel several times.

OK, that’s a little nebulous—several times. How many times did you apply to Bethel?

It was about only 12 times.

Twelve times? What part of no did you not understand?

Perseverance.

Please tell us what caused you to keep applying when you weren’t receiving a response to come?

Yeah, as you can see, certainly we were very persistent. We wanted to keep our options open and allow Jehovah to decide where we would serve. But, you know, when we look back at it, we realize that applying to Bethel all those times and not getting accepted was just simply because it wasn’t our time.

Hmm, what do you mean by that, wasn’t your time?

Well, you see, there we were in our assignment but wanting to be at Bethel. Jehovah knew we had a lot to learn, and he allowed that assignment to give us the training that we needed. And those 12 applications, or those 12 times that we applied, taught us a lot. It taught us patience, taught us to wait on Jehovah, taught us appreciation. So even though we wanted to make ourselves available to do more by means of Bethel service, there were a lot of lessons that we still needed to learn. We needed to learn to focus on, love, and appreciate the privileges we already had up to that point in order to be able to fully appreciate our future Bethel assignment. And what a blessing it was being with those brothers and sisters for those years and being able to witness that growth! It was amazing! And we fondly look back at it, and these certainly are memories that we truly treasure.

Well, those are some valuable lessons that you learned. We’re glad that Jehovah gave you that training. We’re sure it will serve you well. Let’s shift over to you now, Marco. Would you mind telling us a little bit about your family background?

Sure. So growing up, I was raised as a Catholic, and I used to go every Sunday to the church.

Yeah.

But then when I was 17 years old, my uncle began to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. And observing the big changes that he made in his life for good and how happy he became made me really curious about the Bible. What a powerful book it is, to change life in such a way! And so I accepted to study the Bible as well. And when I was 19 years old, I got baptized. And later on, I started to serve as a regular pioneer. I attended the Ministerial Training School, or MTS. And yes, as I told you, for the last 18 years, I’ve been serving at Bethel in Rome.

OK, excellent. Now, during your time here at Gilead, it became clear that you have a real love for history, Marco. We all saw it. Was there anything that was part of the Gilead curriculum that particularly caught your attention?

Yes, here at Gilead we have many artifacts on display. But there is something in particular that caught my attention, and I brought it here to show you.

Oh, really? Does the Gilead Office know that you have this?

I will bring it back soon.

All right. What do we have?

It’s a coin.

OK. Tell us about it.

This coin is an authentic coin minted by Emperor Nero in 66 C.E. He wanted to celebrate a period of peace. In fact, if you look carefully on one side, you can see a door. This door is the door of an ancient temple in Rome. And this door was kept closed during a period of peace. And in fact, Nero wanted to boast that he was capable of bringing peace to the empire. But this was 66 C.E., and the prophecy of Jesus about the destruction of Jerusalem had to be fulfilled. A few months after minting this coin, Nero was forced to send a military army down to Judea to settle the Jewish revolt with Cestius Gallus. And these facts, we know, led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 C.E. So, you see, a coin like this can remind us of a precious lesson: that Bible prophecies are always fulfilled, even though the propaganda of this world can say differently.

Nice lesson. I see that you liked this story.

Would you like to know more about Bible history and Rome?

Of course. I have a short video to watch together.

Let’s see it.

Visiting some of the archaeological sites of Italy can help us to imagine what life was like for the early Christians.

Would you like to come with me for a quick tour?

Let’s begin here.

Located about ten kilometers, or six miles, west of Naples was the ancient port city of Puteoli. Today, it is known as Pozzuoli. In about 59 C.E., the apostle Paul arrived here by boat as a prisoner. From here, Paul would now begin the long journey to Rome, where he would eventually stand before Caesar himself.

One of the most famous Roman highways is called the Appian Way. It averages 6 meters, or 20 feet, in width and was paved with large lava blocks. It was on this very road that Paul traveled to the city of Rome.

Along the way, Paul eventually came to a busy trading center known as the Marketplace of Appius, and a little further north was a rest area (like an inn) known as Three Taverns. Having heard about Paul’s coming, Christians from Rome organized a group of brothers to meet the apostle at both of these stops. Acts 28:15 tells us that upon seeing them, Paul “thanked God and took courage.”

Next, we come to the impressive ruins of Ostia Antica. This was Rome’s most important port. It is about 25 kilometers, or 16 miles, southwest of Rome. We get a glimpse of Roman life back then with its multistory apartment buildings, known as insulae, along with temples, theaters, thermal baths, and shops.

Walking through the old streets, it’s easy to imagine our brothers witnessing to the people. Perhaps they stopped to eat at a food shop similar to this one called thermopolium, where you could buy bread, wine, roasted meat, cheese, and have some refreshment.

Next, we arrive in Rome, where perhaps the most well-known monument stands. Yes, you guessed it, the Colosseum. The mammoth structure was built in the first century C.E. with a seating capacity estimated to be from 40,000 to 87,000 persons. This was Rome’s entertainment center.

There were mainly two types of games, or exhibitions: combat between two gladiators and the hunting of wild animals. Criminals were also put to death here. Interestingly, entry to the Colosseum was free. This was part of the policy of the emperors, who offered free entertainment in order to keep the people under control. In reality, these spectacles were like a drug that corrupted people’s consciences. True Christians back then courageously refused to take any part as spectators.

By the way, do you know where the Romans got the funds to build this huge stadium? They came from the conquest of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.

In fact, there is even an inscription at the Colosseum that reads: “The Emperor Titus Caesar Vespasian Augustus ordered the new amphitheater to be made from the proceeds from the sale of the booty.”

To remember this important event, Emperor Domitian had a triumphal arch built in honor of his brother Titus, who conquered Jerusalem and later became emperor. If you look carefully, you can see a bas-relief with a scene of Roman soldiers carrying the spoils from Jerusalem with the lampstand taken from Jehovah’s temple.

The arch stands today as a clear fulfillment of Jesus’ words about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. So, you see, if we use the Bible as a map, even the stones can be silent witnesses that the Bible is a book of true history, true life, and true prophecies.

I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Thank you for taking us on that wonderful tour, Marco. After seeing that video, we all want to go to Italy ourselves—don’t we?—to see those sites in person. Be prepared.

So, Mannie, let’s come back to you now. What has been the highlight of your Gilead training?

You know, I wasn’t raised in the truth. So as a teenager, I was interested in making sure I improved my situation by means of secular education. I thought education was the answer. I thought it was my ticket out. And, boy, did Jehovah fool me.

How so?

Well, secular education wasn’t the answer, but education was. Jehovah knew I needed the very best education—divine education.

And the truth is that what I’ve learned from our Grand Instructor, Jehovah, surpasses by far anything that the secular education could have provided me with. It’s truly helped me see that, in fact, the education that Jehovah provides us with makes us better people.

So in Gilead School, I have been able to appreciate how Jehovah has continued to train us and provide us with something that’s helpful, not only to myself but to others. And honestly, I’m really grateful that I’ve had this opportunity to get better acquainted with my heavenly Father.

Ah, well stated. Now, tell us, a final question to you, how do you plan on using in your assignment what you’ve learned at Gilead?

I would tend to steer, or guide, myself toward guidelines. But Gilead has taught me that while guidelines are important, I can’t lose sight of what’s more important to Jehovah, and that’s people.

Yes.

And Jesus knew that, and he saw that. Therefore, I want to imitate Jesus in my dealings with people. When he was on earth, who knew the rules better than Jesus? Yet, what was his focus? People. He put people first. He loved them. He didn’t hold that against them.

In my assignment, I hope to imitate Jesus fully in that I can balance guidelines with principles but never lose sight of loving Jehovah’s people.

Ah, that’s beautiful, a nice lesson learned. Thank you for sharing that. In fact, why don’t we get an expression from the rest of you on those very same questions?

How about you, Adalia? What has been the highlight of your Gilead training?

To be honest with you, Brother Chilton, I came to Gilead very scared and apprehensive of the unknown.

We understand.

Not knowing what our future assignment might be was very unsettling to me. But after several lessons, I feel positive and better equipped for what the future holds for us. We did a deep dive into the Sermon on the Mount, and one particular illustration touched me.

At Matthew 7:9, 10, Jesus asks: ‘Which father, when his son asks for a fish, would hand him a serpent?’ Now, his listeners understood that a fish could resemble a serpent, so the illustration took on a little bit more meaning. Even though a son could have been initially deceived if he received a serpent, a loving father would never do such a thing.

No.

So I realized that my heavenly Father, Jehovah, would never give me something bad and make it appear as something good. So after meditating on this, I realized that Jehovah will only give me something that will be beneficial for us. And whatever he asks, it will only be for my eternal happiness.

Ah, that’s beautiful.

Yeah, we pray that you have success in that. And the final question for you, Adalia, how do you hope to use in your assignment what you’ve learned at Gilead?

I know our brothers and sisters are going through a lot. I want to be able to help strengthen their faith the way mine has been upbuilt by sharing with them things that I’ve learned in school and also just by being a living example for them and also making sure that they understand that whatever challenge or trial that they face, Jehovah will sustain them.

There’s no doubt about it.

So with all that being said, I know that we’re ready for whatever the future holds for us. And the way my faith has been strengthened—it’s my treasure, my possession, that I’m never going to let go of.

Oh, that’s beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us.

Hanta, let’s ask you that question, what has been the highlight of Gilead training for you?

I’ve learned many times—I’ve read in our publications many times—that Jehovah never fails to reward his faithful ones. But Gilead helped me to understand that more fully.

How do you mean?

For example, Jehovah used Nebuchadnezzar to conquer Tyre. But Nebuchadnezzar and his men did not get many things, many riches from Tyre. So it was as if Jehovah told him: ‘Nebuchadnezzar, thank you very much for your labor to me. Here I give you treasures from Egypt.’

Nebuchadnezzar was not His servant, but He rewarded him for the labor he did for Him. So if Jehovah can do that to someone who is not worshipping Him, how much more so will He reward those who are loyal to Him? So that really strengthened me.

Oh, what a beautiful lesson learned! Thank you. Thank you for sharing that.

And a final question to you, Hanta, how do you plan on using what you’ve learned in your assignment from what you’ve gathered here at Gilead?

Yes, when a sister comes to me with her problem, I quickly think of a solution, even when the sister is still speaking.

Oh.

But Gilead has taught me to listen and to show empathy. The person may not need the solution at all. Maybe what she needs is a listening ear. But when help is needed, I’m determined to use Bible principles to reason with the person and allow the person to draw the conclusion. So I’ll allow the person to draw the conclusion herself.

We wish you success in that, Hanta. Thank you so much for sharing that with us.

Shimon, let’s go over to you. What has been the highlight of your Gilead training?

For me, the Growing Spiritually course lessons had a huge impact. I even changed my prayer a little bit.

For example, I used to pray to Jehovah, “Please help me to show love to my wife and friends and brothers and sisters.”

Good prayer. Good prayer.

But now I understand what love is specifically.

Love is an unselfish quality, focusing on doing good to others regardless of the merit of the recipient or any benefit I could get back.

So now I know that when I pray to Jehovah to show love, I am asking for help to be a more unselfish person.

Ah, that’s beautiful.

That’s a good lesson you’ve learned.

Now, tell us, how do you plan on using in your assignment what you’ve gathered here at Gilead?

Yeah, you know, Brother Chilton, the Gilead training made me understand why I loved computers so much.

OK. We have to know more on that one.

What do you mean?

Because I can program the computer how to work, and they will just work.

But people are not like that; they are unpredictable, and they don’t always do what I want them to do.

So because of this, when I am focusing on something technical, it is not always easy for me to switch my mind to love people.

So my goal is to love people the way Jehovah loves them, remembering they are doing their best — as I am.

Ah, a good lesson learned.

Thank you for sharing that with us.

Let’s talk to your wife now.

Yoshi, what has been the highlight of your training?

Yeah, well, I’m seeing the fruitage of the spirit in a way that I never thought of before.

Can I give an example?

Please.

So our culture is generally viewed as being humble and polite.

Gilead has taught me that that kind of humility, though, is not a result of the holy spirit, or a fruitage of the holy spirit.

Gilead has taught me that humility, love, kindness — all those good qualities — they have to come from much, much deeper down, not culture or your natural tendency or personality.

It has to be driven by Jehovah, by his holy spirit, for it to be a fruitage of the holy spirit.

And that understanding of Jehovah helping us in our good points — that just really blew my mind.

OK, nice.

So how do you plan on using in your assignment what you’ve learned at Gilead, Yoshi?

Yes.

So the holy spirit’s power is very strong.

So my goal when I get to my new assignment is to be able to expand my comfort zone, widen out, with Jehovah’s help, so that I can be more people-oriented and that I can be comfortable with people.

And I hope they’ll be comfortable with me too.

Ah, we have every confidence that they will be.

Well done, Yoshi.

Thank you.

Now, finally, Marco, you’re our last one here.

So, what has been the highlight of your Gilead training?

I think that Gilead helped me to love the Bible even more.

I realized that when digging into it, the more I studied the Bible, the more I found new things to learn that I didn’t imagine.

And I could compare the Bible now to a suitcase with a double or triple bottom layer and full of things because the more I look into it, the more I can take out more things that maybe I didn’t see at the beginning.

So the lesson for me is that when I study the Bible, I should slow down — take my time to meditate, to find the different angles, to study all the aspects — because nothing in the Bible is random or written by chance.

Nice, nice lesson you’ve learned there.

And how do you plan on using in your assignment what you’ve learned?

Yes, I think to be aware of how rich the Bible is will help me in any assignment.

I’m more convinced that in any circumstance I will face in the future (new circumstances could be challenging or unexpected), I think that the only thing I have to do is to go back to the Bible and look for a similar situation or a lesson or a Bible principle that can apply because I’m sure that Jehovah as a loving Father has already written in the Bible everything that I need.

Excellent. Well done.

And we’ll pray for your success in that too, Marco.

Well, we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the six of you better, and we appreciate so much you sharing with us your personal expressions.

We echo the words of the apostle Paul, written at 2 Timothy 4:22, when he said: “The Lord be with the spirit you show. His undeserved kindness be with you.”

It is our prayer that Jehovah’s rich blessing continue upon you six and the rest of your Gilead class — 156.

And to all of you in our viewing audience, thank you for joining us.

We look forward to being with you again on the next edition of The Inside Story.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtGilead/pub-jwb-119_2_VIDEO

Go On Walking in Love

 Betty Georges: “Go On Walking in Love” (Eph. 5:1, 2)

Question:

What would you say is one of the greatest gifts that we’ve received from Jehovah?

Interestingly, the comment that we’ll read in a few minutes from The Watchtower says that ‘perhaps one of the greatest gifts that we receive from Jehovah is our ability to worship him.’

And this gift goes hand in hand with another gift that Jehovah has given us, which is highlighted in today’s text, that is, our ability to love.

But when you think of an ability, an ability is only of value if it is developed and if it is put to good use. For example, a child is born with the ability to walk, but that ability will be of no value if it’s not developed and not put to use.

So here’s our question then: How can we continue to develop our ability to love?

Let’s consider two steps by imitating our loving Father, Jehovah. And that is what Paul encourages us to do. If we read together Ephesians 5:1, you notice there Paul says: “Become imitators of God, as beloved children.”

It’s very heartwarming to think that we can be like Jehovah. We can imitate him. But the question is how? How can we imitate Jehovah? The answer is in the first word. Paul starts by saying “therefore.”

Why? Well, the study note helps us to understand why. If we take the study note together with verse 1, you’ll notice it says that ‘Paul has just discussed some of God’s qualities, such as kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.

So by opening with the word “therefore,” he suggests that contemplating or meditating on these qualities can motivate us to imitate Jehovah. And that makes sense. Isn’t it true? How do we imitate someone? Well, we first start by observing, and then we act.

Well, the same is true when imitating Jehovah. We need to observe him. How? By studying and by meditating on his Word. And meditation leads to motivation, which leads to application.

But the scripture is very encouraging because you’ll notice Paul did not say to imitate God as grown-ups, as adults, but, no, he says “as beloved children.” In other words, Jehovah is reasonable in what he expects of us.

The New English Bible renders this verse as: “Dear children, try to be like [God].” And we can have the picture of a child of four or five years old, trying to walk in his father’s shoes.

Well, you know, it’s not perfect, but he’s trying. But that act puts a smile on his father’s face. The same is true for Jehovah. He appreciates that we’re trying to be like him.

That takes us to our second step, and we find it in verse 2. Paul says to “go on walking in love.” So that’s our second step, “walking in love, just as the Christ also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice, a sweet fragrance to God”—a beautiful word picture when we think of the idea of walking, “walking in love.”

Walking is a form of exercise. So it’s as if Paul is saying that we need to exercise love; we need to practice love. The Easy-to-Read Version puts it: “We need to live a life of love”—“to live a life of love.”

And coming back to walking—walking is a simple form of exercise. Paul did not say running in love but simply “walking in love”—a simple form of exercise but effective—effective.

Love can be simple but can be very effective. An example: A few years ago, we were serving in Montreal, Canada, in the traveling work. We visited a congregation, and there we met a sister who was experiencing back problems.

And at the end of the visit, Crystal sent a little card expressing empathy because she herself had faced, or dealt with, back problems. Five years later, we met the sister. And—wouldn’t you know it?—she still had the card.

The simple act of love touched her so much that she kept the card. And I couldn’t help to think that Crystal must have taken—what?—maybe a few minutes to write the card.

And I must have spent countless hours preparing talks and delivering talks. I’m sure she didn’t remember a single word I said five years later, but she remembered the card. She kept the card—love, simple act but effective.

But the point is that it’s not just walking in love. You’ll notice two words precede “walking in love.” Paul says: “Go on walking in love.” Because if we stop, we stop being human, and Satan knows that.

Satan knows that it’s the best version of us; we are at our best when we give love and when we receive love. So we need to resist his efforts to dehumanize us by causing us to stop showing love.

And in verse 2, Paul highlights the best human example of showing love and walking in the love that we have, that of Jesus Christ. And notice the equation Paul highlights here. It says “just as the Christ also loved us and gave himself.”

So, then, from this we can extract the equation “to love” equals “to give.” And when I think of this ‘to love equals to give,’ right away I think of our dear brothers serving on Hospital Liaison Committees.

Their love moves them to give up their time, their energy, their resources to come to the assistance of their brothers in challenging times—the worst time ever, possibly—and also stressful times.

But they do it out of love, even though most of them don’t have a medical background. So these brothers definitely deserve our love and our respect. And that is also true for their families.

What is the reward, then, for continuing to develop our ability to love? Notice the reward at the end of verse 2. Paul is talking about Jesus’ sacrifice. He says his “sacrifice is a sweet fragrance to God.”

Well, the same is true for us. As we endeavor to imitate Jesus, as we endeavor to imitate Jehovah, we can be for Jehovah “a sweet fragrance.”

Or, in other words, we can cause him to have warm feelings toward us. In review, what have we learned? We’ve learned that we all have the ability to love; that’s why Jehovah made it a command, which is today’s text.

But this ability needs to be developed. We need to continue to develop it for it to be of value, for it to be useful. And we considered two ways we can do this: by imitating Jehovah, and a simple exercise, by walking in love.

And when we do, we can go on to live a life of love.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtMorningWorship/pub-jwbvod24_36_VIDEO

Be Determined to Endure

 Robert Luccioni: Be Determined to Endure (Luke 8:15)

Now, we often talk about endurance. But here’s a question, Is endurance unique to Jehovah’s people? No, everybody has to endure things. We think, ‘People have to endure death and sickness and disasters and violence and pandemics and food shortages and much more.’ Why, even being persecuted for our faith does not set us apart from other people in the world. If you think about it, others have to deal with persecution for their religion, their ethnic background, even the color of their skin. Yes, because of imperfection and this wicked world we live in, everybody has to endure something.

Jesus highlighted, though, something that sets our endurance apart from others. And it’s in our text for today. I invite you to turn to Luke 8:15. Let’s read it again—Luke 8:15. It says: “As for that on the fine soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word with a fine and good heart, retain it and bear fruit with endurance.”

Do you notice what separates us from others in the world—us as an organization? See, we hear the Word of God, we retain it, we endure, but we bear fruit while we endure. Now, what is the fruitage we bear while we are enduring? Well, the context of this scripture is talking about (and as our comments mentioned, it’s talking about) preaching—preaching the Kingdom message. And we know our brothers and sisters do that no matter what they’re going through; they continue telling others the good news about the Kingdom and about Jehovah.

What’s the other fruitage that we bear? Well, look at Colossians 1:10. It says: “So as to walk worthily of Jehovah in order to please him fully as you go on bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the accurate knowledge of God.” Yes, even while going through very difficult times, terrible times, what do our brothers and sisters do? Well, they continue to do “every good work.” They look to see how they can help others, support the Kingdom, support the organization, support their brothers and sisters.

Then there’s also Galatians 5:22, 23 that reminds us that no matter what it is that we’re going through, we continue to cultivate the fruitage of God’s spirit, which includes those beautiful qualities of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, [and] self-control.” See, we endure, but we continue to bear these beautiful qualities. And, really, that’s one of the things that sets Jehovah’s organization as a people apart from the rest of the world, not just endurance, but bearing fruit while enduring.

And isn’t it true that that’s one of the things that makes us so proud to be part of this organization? As we look around and we see our brothers and sisters doing that, it makes us so proud of them, so proud of each other. Now, as we know, our brothers in Russia are enduring religious persecution, yet they keep on bearing fruit. Here are a few experiences.

One brother whom we will call Ivan has been in five different prison cells in the detention center where he is at the time of his writing. And his prayers include asking Jehovah to give him the opportunity to witness on every occasion. So, what does he do? He witnesses on every occasion. In one transfer, the prison official sent Ivan to a special section that had very harsh conditions. It was a section that is set aside for especially dangerous criminals. And they put Ivan in a cell with a man accused of terrorism. What would Ivan do? He immediately began to witness to him. Ivan says that his cellmate turned out to be very interested in the Bible. They often spoke about the Bible. Ivan has now been transferred to another cell and is witnessing to those inmates. But before leaving, he arranged for some brothers to begin corresponding with this man, and Ivan is hoping that this man continues to correspond and continues studying the Bible.

A sister we’ll call Nadia was told about the possibility that her prison sentence might be reduced to house arrest. Nadia was not as excited as one would naturally imagine. Why? Well, it’s because Nadia felt that she still had much work to do there in prison. See, over the six months that she was there, the prison officials had transferred, or had put, 22 different women in her cell with her. And Nadia witnessed to all of them. She conducted Bible studies with five of them. Nadia does not see an urgent need to leave the prison quite yet.

So, what’s the difference between Nadia and Ivan and their fellow inmates? They’re all enduring prison. But Ivan and Nadia are bearing fruit while they’re enduring. They’re witnessing to others; they’re doing good works; they’re maintaining their joy and other aspects of ‘the fruitage of God’s spirit.’ Now, of course, Jehovah’s spirit is helping them to endure (our brothers and sisters there in Russia). During the search of his home, one brother (while they were searching his home) became very, very anxious. He prayed to Jehovah. He said: “Jehovah, please, I do not know what to do. Please help me know what to do.” Right then the investigator who was leading the investigation was looking at our brother’s refrigerator, and he read the words expressively and loudly that were on a magnet on his refrigerator. “Do not be anxious, for I am your God.” The brother immediately recognized this was an answer to his prayer.

Others of our brothers and sisters are dealing with terrible violence and adversities, but they continue bearing fruit. Yamilet is a 44-year-old sister in Venezuela. She has two daughters, one 17 years old and one 20 years old. Where she lives has become a very, very dangerous place. Those who can move away do. And Yamilet says it’s very hard to keep a positive attitude. She worries about the safety of her two daughters. Yamilet tells of seeing people held at gunpoint while their little children look on, of witnessing executions on the street, of being caught in gun battles while she’s in the ministry. And she says most troubling is hearing the desperate screams at night of people pleading for their lives.

She says that some mornings, after particularly terrifying nights, she feels helpless and frightened to the point where she can’t even bear the thought of going out of the house and going out into the ministry. But what does she do? She says: “I give myself a good talking to. I say: ‘Yamilet, you’re a regular pioneer. You have to go out and preach the good news.’” So she says she goes out, and she’s always encouraged for doing so. Recently, Yamilet called on a woman who cried over and over again about the terrible things that were taking place. Yamilet says, “As I shared the Kingdom message with her, I thought: ‘Thank you, Jehovah. This would be me if I did not know you.’”

Abner and Isamar are also a young couple. They’re a young couple also from Venezuela. But because of the crisis at home, they moved to Peru nearly two years ago, and now their lives became much more difficult because of the coronavirus pandemic and the national lockdown. And though they were very careful and they took many precautions, both of them fell ill and were diagnosed with COVID-19. Now, they mentioned that they had been diagnosed with COVID-19 only to their families in Venezuela and to Jehovah in prayer. Just one hour later, a local sister knocked on their door and left a bag of food and an encouraging card for them. Not even a half an hour later after that, another sister brought a bag of food and a small amount of money for them.

When they had somewhat recovered, they realized that someone had stolen money from their bank account, and it was the money that they had set aside for a theocratic purpose. Again, they told Jehovah in prayer, but this time they told nobody else. Later that same day, they received money from a sister in the exact amount that they lost. And despite the many obstacles that they’re going through, they continue to put the Kingdom first in addition to sending money home to their families in Venezuela. They continue as regular pioneers. They are assisting the Peru branch with the Peruvian Sign Language work.

What’s the point? The point is that our brothers and sisters are enduring very, very difficult times all around the world. And yet, what separates them and what separates us from the rest of mankind who are enduring similar trials? We “bear fruit with endurance.” And isn’t it true that we could stay here all day and hear experience after experience of our brothers and sisters around the world, including those of you, of this family, experiences that you’re having bearing fruit while enduring?

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtMorningWorship/pub-jwbvod24_35_VIDEO

Loyal Support for Christ’s Brothers

 Kenneth Godburn: Loyal Support for Christ’s Brothers (Matt. 25:40)

Well, our text is taken from Jesus’ illustration about the sheep and the goats. So let’s open our Bibles to Matthew chapter 25 and consider features of this illustration that teach us about our King, Jesus.

Now, he directed this illustration to those who have the hope of living forever here on the earth. The events are yet future. Verse 31 describes when they take place. It says: “When the Son of man comes in his glory, . . . then he will sit down on his glorious throne.” He does that to judge all the people on the earth.

Now, the basis for that everlasting judgment, either everlasting life or everlasting destruction, has to do with how individuals treat Christ’s brothers. And as we know, the primary way that we can support Christ’s brothers has to do with the preaching work. That’s a need that they all have. But the illustration also applies to the individual support that we might render to individual members of the anointed.

Now, Jesus presents this illustration in a way that encourages us to provide loyal support to Christ’s brothers. So let’s consider two things. First, how does Jesus in this illustration show his love and concern for the anointed? And second, how does he demonstrate that he wants all of us, anointed and other sheep, to succeed?

Well, let’s consider the first point: how this illustration teaches us about Jesus’ care for the anointed. Jesus makes it clear that he is concerned about each one of them. Take a look at verses 35 through 40 of the illustration.

Jesus says: “‘For I became hungry and you gave me something to eat; ‘I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. ‘I was a stranger and you received me hospitably; naked and you clothed me. ‘I fell sick and you looked after me. ‘I was in prison and you visited me.’ “Then the righteous ones will answer him with the words: “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ‘When did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked and clothe you? ‘When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “In reply the King will say to them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

Now, the dialogue that Jesus uses here in this illustration, first with the sheep and then later with the goats, emphasizes his care for all of the anointed. The parable lists six things that they face, situations that they may encounter, and Jesus has that list repeated four times. He mentions it twice, and he has the sheep and the goats both repeat it. Clearly, Jesus is concerned with what is happening with the anointed. He knows that since the last days began, they have been the object of Satan’s wrath. Revelation 12:17 says that Satan is waging war against them because they “have the work of bearing witness [to] Jesus.” So Jesus knows what they face as a group, but he’s also concerned about what they deal with individually.

Notice verse 40 and then verse 45. Jesus uses the expression “the least of these my brothers” or “these least ones.” Now, the study note says in verse 40 for the plural term “brother” that it “can refer to both men and women.” And by stating “the least of these,” Jesus showed that he wasn’t just focusing on those who have heavy theocratic responsibilities. No, he was aware of what was going on with all of his brothers, even those who may have been insignificant to others. Jesus views what happens even to these ones as though it happened to him. Jesus thus dignifies all of his brothers. He doesn’t focus on their privileges; he focuses on their relationship with him.

And he emphasizes this further in the wording of this illustration. Notice, again, verse 40 and verse 45. Do you see the expression: “Truly I say to you”? That was an expression that Jesus used to demonstrate the absolute reliability or truthfulness of what he said. So Jesus wanted all of the anointed to know that he cared about them. He was aware of what they were dealing with. And that’s good for us to know because it lets us know that whatever we do in behalf of the anointed, Jesus is aware of it and he considers it as done just to him.

Now, that brings us to the second thing that we learn: Jesus wants us to succeed. He wants the anointed to succeed. He demonstrated that he knew what they were facing, but he also emphasized that they would get the help that they need. There would always be righteous people here on the earth to help them. And that applies not just to the preaching work. We know that there are millions of people supporting the preaching work, supporting branch operations and Kingdom Hall construction projects, providing financial support. But it also applies to the individual needs that they might have.

If they get sick, if they’re persecuted, if they get rejected, if they’re worried about their family members —whatever need that they have— Jesus’ words indicate that there will always be individuals who will provide support. The anointed will always have what they need to succeed.

Jesus wants the other sheep to succeed too. Notice how he described what they would need to do. He described it as giving a drink, feeding, clothing, visiting the sick. Now, these are all things that a righthearted person would want to do, find happiness in doing. These are things that Christians are obligated to do. What’s the point? Jesus didn’t describe what we needed to do in grandiose terms, as though we had to climb a mountain or travel some great distance. No, he used simple, everyday things —things that all of us can do. And doesn’t that describe the preaching work? Well, all of us can engage in the preaching work no matter where we are. And doing good to Christ’s brothers would not depend on where we serve.

Verse 32 says that Jesus is evaluating people of “all the nations” all over the planet. And it’s good for us to remember that here at Bethel. You know, we greatly appreciate our privileges of service. We know that we’re having a big share in supporting the preaching work, and we know that Bethel also gives us a unique opportunity at times to assist anointed brothers personally, helping individuals in the ways that Jesus described. And we cherish those privileges.

But the reality is we don’t all have the same opportunities to render such aid directly. A lot may depend on what our particular assignment is or what the needs are, and our work here at Bethel may change. Yet, according to Jesus’ illustration, doing good to the least of Christ’s brothers does not depend on where we serve. Jesus doesn’t want us to be discouraged about what we can’t do. He wants us to focus on what we can do. And no matter where we are and no matter who we are, we can all do something for Christ’s brothers. And when we do, our King considers it as though it were done to him.

So this illustration deals with a weighty topic —the everlasting destiny of billions of people. But the way that Jesus delivers this information draws us closer to him. We see his deep concern for the anointed, and that encourages them, and it also gives us motivation to loyally support them. And Jesus also demonstrates that he wants us all to succeed —anointed and other sheep. Now, as we approach the Memorial, there’ll be even other opportunities for this illustration to be important for us.


https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtMorningWorship/pub-jwbvod24_37_VIDEO

Endurance—Essential to Stay in the Truth

 Joel Dellinger: Endurance—Essential to Stay in the Truth (2 Tim. 4:7, 8)

I’d like to invite you to open up your Bible with me, please, to 2 Timothy chapter 4, as we’ll read verses 7 and 8, which gives us a little context around our day’s text. As you may recall, at the time Paul was writing to Timothy, around the year 65 C.E., Paul was in a Roman prison, he was in chains, and he was facing an imminent death. The question we could ask, Was Paul enduring his trials successfully? Well, let’s read together 2 Timothy chapter 4 beginning in verse 7.

Paul says: “I have fought the fine fight, I have run the race to the finish, I have observed the faith. From this time on, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me as a reward in that day, yet not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his manifestation.”

Well, what a courageous, positive outlook for a man who knew he was about to die! Paul was convinced that his endurance in Jehovah’s service had been well worth the effort. He knew the truthfulness of what Jesus had earlier said at Matthew 24:13, that “the one who has endured to the end [whether it be the end of his life or the end of the system of things] will be saved.”

Well, like Paul, each of us has a race we need to finish. So we might ask the question, How are we doing? Well, all of us are running. We’re closer to the finish line than when we started. That’s great news. But are we getting tired—tired of this pandemic, tired of bad news, tired of seeing our friends and family members suffer in various ways as this wicked system of things comes to a close?

This morning, to strengthen us to not give up or give out, I thought it would be good for us to first consider the meaning of Scriptural “endurance,” and then we’ll discuss a comforting assurance from our God of loyal love, Jehovah.

First, in the Scriptures, what is endurance? Well, the Greek noun denotes “courageous, steadfast, or patient ‘endurance’ that does not lose hope in the face of obstacles, persecutions, trials, or temptations.” It’s a beautiful quality. The related verb often has the sense of remaining instead of fleeing, standing one’s ground, persevering. Organized to Do Jehovah’s Will in chapter 17 gives a beautiful description of this quality. You may wish to read it later, but it pointedly states this in one sentence: “Without endurance, we cannot stay in the truth.”

Well, why is endurance—this beautiful, precious quality that we need to continue cultivating—so important for all of us, regardless of how many years we’ve been running in the race? Well, think of an illustration. Think of literal runners in a marathon. At the start, all of the runners worked hard to qualify. That’s excellent. But what happens to a runner who gives up anywhere before crossing the finish line? Is he any better than a person who gave up much earlier in the race or a person who didn’t even try to join the race? No. The results for tiring out or giving up are the same—disqualification. We would lose out on the reward.

Well, what’s the point? All of us—regardless of how long we’ve been running, regardless of how tired we may be right now—need to be determined to run to the finish with Jehovah’s help. You know, this thought reminded me of a comment that I heard from Brother Mancoca. If you’ve read the theocratic history of Angola in the Yearbook, then you’ve read about Brother João Mancoca. His faithfulness during periods of intense persecution is something we all wish to imitate. Brother Mancoca is still alive. He’s 95 years of age. He’s a faithful and energetic brother supporting the Branch Committee there in Angola. Several years ago, we had the privilege of meeting him when he was 88 years of age. I was giving him an encouraging visit, but it turned out to be much more encouraging for me, I’m sure, than it was for him.

In discussing his past faithfulness, it was interesting his comment. He said this. He said, “It’s not what I was that matters; it’s who I am that matters.” Yes, Brother Mancoca and you dear elderly brothers and sisters who are in the race and who have been in the race, you understand endurance. You know that it means striving forward, moving forward, maintaining a strong hope and a positive view, no matter how many the trials or how difficult they are. Well, that’s our goal—isn’t it?—all of us, to endure to the end.

I invite you now to open up your Bible with me to 1 Corinthians 10:13. Here we find a very comforting assurance. We’ve read it before. But as we discuss it and analyze it for just a few moments, I’d like you to think about it not only for yourself, but think about someone in your family or in your congregation who would benefit by having this reminder shared with them. And perhaps during the weeks to come, we can think about others who need the encouragement that this scripture provides.

First Corinthians 10:13—it reads: “No temptation has come upon you except what is common to men. But God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but along with the temptation he will also make the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”

Well, how would you summarize the assurance given in God’s inspired Word? It’s this: No matter what trials may yet arise in our life before we get to the finish line, Jehovah will sustain us if we trust in him.

We might notice in the reading two fundamental truths that serve as the foundation for this comfort. First, did you notice in the beginning part of verse 13, it says that the trials we face are “common to men”? What does that mean? Well, that means that anything we’re going through now—stresses, anxieties, difficulties—is common to the human experience. As a result, they’re not beyond our capacity to bear up as long as we rely on Jehovah God.

In the context of these words in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, particularly in verses 6 to 11, we note that Paul refers to the tests that the Israelites faced in the wilderness. Now, think of the tests they faced. None of those trials while walking in a wilderness for 40 years were beyond human experience or, in other words, beyond the ability of faithful Israelites to bear up under. Interestingly, Paul says four times that some of them disobeyed. Yes, sadly, some Israelites gave in to wrong desires, not because their trials were just too much for their weak human souls to bear; nor was it because Jehovah had failed them. No, it was because some of them failed to rely on God.

What’s the second fundamental truth in this verse? Well, we read that “God is faithful.” Well, we know that to be true, don’t we? Our experience with Jehovah has proven him to be faithful in supporting us in all previous tests we’ve faced. Indeed, the record of God’s dealings with his people demonstrates that he’s abundant in loyal love (as we discussed last evening), abundant in loyal love to those who obey him. Like Joshua, we look back at the record that we’ve experienced with Jehovah and the record that his people since the time of Israel have experienced with Jehovah, and what do we know? We know with all our heart, with all our soul, that “not one word out of all the good promises that Jehovah . . . has [made] . . . has failed.”

What does that mean?

Jehovah will be faithful to us today and tomorrow as we face tests and temptations.

So two points we can take away:

First, Jehovah will not allow any trial to develop to a point where it would make it impossible for us to bear, and second, he will make the way out for us.

Yes, Jehovah, in various ways, can either remove trials or help us to endure trials with joy, with hope, with determination, so that all of us can, with his help, cross that finish line.

Well, may these thoughts today move us to run with endurance another day in Jehovah’s service, and may we be determined to help others to do the same as we encourage and upbuild one another.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtMorningWorship/pub-jwb-116_3_VIDEO