“Your Word Is Truth”

Why Serve Jehovah

WERE you one of the more than 164,000 persons who, this past year, dedicated their lives to Jehovah God? If so, you no doubt are anxious and happy to tell others why you serve Him.

You serve Jehovah God because you love him. You serve him out of appreciation and gratitude for who he is and for all he has done for you as the Giver of every good gift and of every perfect present. (Jas. 1:17) You serve him because you know his Word is truth. You serve him because you are dependent upon him for everything. Yes, you serve God because it brings with it true and lasting blessings.​—Prov. 10:22; Acts 17:28.

At times, however, when meeting up with certain trials you may forget these all-powerful reasons and tend to let what others do slow you down in your service of Jehovah. This could easily lead to turning away completely from serving God.

If such trials come upon you, then look at Jesus Christ and the fine example he set. He kept serving his heavenly Father in spite of what the Devil or anyone else did. There was one of his twelve apostles, Judas, who betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver. (Matt. 26:14, 15) What a wicked deed! Yet did it cause Jesus to turn aside and quit serving God? By no means! As he told Peter at that very time: “The cup that the Father has given me, should I not by all means drink it?”​—John 18:11.

Shortly thereafter the rest of his eleven apostles fled, leaving him alone, thereby fulfilling the prophecy: “Strike the shepherd, and let those of the flock be scattered.” (Zech. 13:7) Still later, on the same evening, Peter, the most energetic of his apostles, denied his Master three times, but even that did not cause Jesus to quit serving God. Yes, Jesus kept on serving Jehovah God regardless of what either friend or foe did.​—Matt. 26:69-75.

True, Jesus was perfect, but that does not mean you cannot follow and imitate him to the best of your ability. God knows that even in physical imperfection you can maintain perfect loyalty. In this you can imitate Jesus, even as the apostle Paul wrote: “Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1) The apostle Paul, though imperfect, kept on imitating Jesus in serving God in spite of what others did. He did so even though on one occasion ‘all the men in the district of Asia turned away from him.’ And when his case came up for trial he remained firm, even though at that time, again, as he himself tells it: “No one came to my side, but they all proceeded to forsake me . . . but the Lord stood near me and infused power into me, that through me the preaching might be fully accomplished and all the nations might hear it; and I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.”​—2 Tim. 1:15; 4:16, 17.

You may not be tried as severely as were Jesus and Paul, but you are bound to have lesser trials, trials that some Christians have let turn them away from serving Jehovah, causing them to forget why they served him. However, by continuing faithful in spite of these lesser tests you will be able to stand even when more severe tests come later.​—Luke 16:10.

For example, some of the early Christians looked down upon Paul because he was not an eloquent speaker. But that did not stumble him. Once he had quite an argument with Barnabas about taking along John Mark, so much so that Paul and Barnabas parted company for a time. Paul took Silas as his companion while Barnabas took John Mark. But did it cause any of them to quit God’s service? Not at all. And years later Paul even wrote to Timothy, saying: “Take Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me.”​—2 Tim. 4:11.

In fact, even in more ancient times Jehovah’s servants had ever to keep in mind whom they were serving and not let what others did stumble them. Look at Moses, how he was tried from the beginning to the end of his prophetic career. When God’s due time came for Moses to lead his people out from Egyptian bondage, how difficult the Israelites made matters for Moses! They abused him because Pharaoh temporarily made the situation worse for them. They complained when it seemed that they were hemmed in at the Red Sea. When Moses was in the mountain for forty days his people began to worship a golden calf in the place of Jehovah. They grumbled about the food, the manna, and they complained about a shortage of water. They even were ready to stone Moses and Aaron upon hearing the bad report of the ten unfaithful spies, choosing to ignore the good report of Joshua and Caleb. Did all these trials, and many others like them, cause Moses to forget why he was serving Jehovah and so make him quit? Absolutely not! He remained faithful to his God to the end of his days, until the age of 120 years.​—Deut. 34:7.

And so with Christians today. To the extent that you take serving Jehovah seriously, to that extent you will find yourself meeting up with trials, even as Jesus did, and as did the apostle Paul and the prophet Moses. Trials coming from outsiders are to be expected, though possibly you may never be slowed down or stumbled by them.​—John 16:33.

At other times tests will come from your own Christian brothers, in your own Christian congregation. Your brothers, being imperfect, may be unduly critical of your shortcomings. Or they may overlook opportunities to give you much-needed cooperation. Some may cool off or become discouraged, bitter or materialistic and quit serving God altogether. All this can be quite a test to you, especially if in times past you looked up to them as fine examples.

Then again, tests may come from your own household, from members of your own family, even as Jesus warned. (Matt. 10:34-36) Jehovah God requires you to be faithful to your vow of dedication to him, and to your marriage vow, even though your mate may become indifferent, unloving or an outright opposer. No matter what wrong course your mate may take, this does not justify you in taking an unchristian course, or quitting the service of Jehovah God. Not at all! As it is often said, two wrongs do not make a right. What other people may or may not do gives no justification for you to slow down or stop serving Jehovah God.

As a dedicated and baptized Christian you know that Jehovah is the one true God. You know that he requires exclusive devotion of you. You know that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is the truth. You know that Jesus Christ is your Savior and Redeemer and is your Pattern and Exemplar. You know that you have dedicated yourself to do the will of Jehovah God and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. And you know that serving Jehovah God is the loving, the wise and the RIGHT thing to do. So continue to serve Jehovah God for these reasons and never be swerved therefrom because of what others may or may not do! Be like David, who said: “As for me, in my integrity I shall walk.”​—Ps. 26:11.