Bible Truth Reaches People in Various Ways
JEHOVAH God is intensely interested in the eternal welfare of humankind. The Holy Scriptures give us the assurance that it is God’s will that “all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4) And today people are indeed being reached with the Bible’s message, at times in very unusual ways.
● A Witness from Canada relates: “I was working at a coffee shop one evening. Among those on the night shift was a girl I’d never met before. As was his habit, one of the workers began telling an immoral joke. I turned and walked away in disgust. Unknown to me, the new girl asked some of the other girls, ‘What’s the matter with her?’ They told her that I was one of Jehovah’s witnesses. Although this girl lived in my neighborhood, I did not see her again until some time later when we met at a little grocery store.”
What was the result? Because of having observed the Witness’ adherence to right principle, the girl agreed to have a home Bible study and within a year became a baptized Witness.
● In Italy, one of Jehovah’s witnesses who during various days of the week helps her husband in the operation of an electrical appliance store is alert to acquaint others with the Bible’s message. One day a man came in to buy a table lamp. After being shown various lamps, he asked if he might test the lamps with something to read. The Witness promptly handed him the Bible study aid “Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie,” opened to the chapter “God’s Permission of Wickedness Soon to End.” The man began reading while the Witness waited on another customer.
Many minutes passed. After reading the first few pages of the chapter, the man asked some questions about the interesting things that he had read and requested a copy of the book. On receiving it, he made his way toward the door. “But didn’t you want to buy a lamp?” the Witness reminded him. The lamp no longer interested him, but he readily agreed to have a home Bible study.
● A married couple in Tahiti obtained several publications from Jehovah’s witnesses when they called at their home. But this couple had no interest in reading the literature. Later they purchased a new home in a different area. There two Witnesses called on them, only to be sent away by the husband. Following this incident the wife asked her husband to clean out the books in the garage, throwing away those no longer needed. While sorting through the various books, he came across the publication “Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie.” Recalling the recent visit of the Witnesses, he said to himself, “This is one of their books.”
As he was about to discard it he opened it and glanced over a paragraph. It caught his attention. So he sat down and then and there read the book from cover to cover, finishing it late that night.
The next day he read in the newspaper that Jehovah’s witnesses were holding an assembly. He attended this assembly with his wife. Impressed by what he heard, he obtained more literature. Three weeks later a Bible study was started with him and his wife. Soon he began sharing with others the good things he was learning from God’s Word.
● Over a period of several years a man in West Germany obtained The Watchtower and Awake! from one of Jehovah’s witnesses. One day the Witness asked him whether he was reading the magazines. The man assured him that he was and remarked that they were interesting. Actually, though, he had not read any of the magazines. Plagued by a bad conscience because of having lied, the man went to the stack of magazines and started to read them. He began to realize that he was reading the truth and talked to his wife about it. Since the Witness had not called on them for a while, they decided to locate the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s witnesses. After doing so, they went to the Kingdom Hall and requested a home Bible study. Not long thereafter they were baptized.
Thus it can be seen that, not only the spoken word, but also personal conduct and the printed page are playing a vital role in reaching people with Bible truth.