Help Them to Choose Life
1 A few weeks ago you saw the front cover of the special issue of Awake! But now that you have the entire magazine, have you read it? If so, you know how valuable it will be in helping others to appreciate Jehovah’s loving provision for eternal life.
2 The majority of people on whom we call know that we talk about living forever on earth, but they personally just don’t believe it. Hasn’t that been your experience? Some object that, if no one ever died, there would not be enough room for everyone on earth. Others say that the fact that people have been dying for thousands of years is proof to them that man was not meant to live forever. Asked if they would not like to live forever, there are those who frankly say “No.” What do you answer when householders respond in this way?
3 The October 8 Awake! is designed to break through their skepticism and to help them to appreciate that what the Bible says about eternal life deserves wholehearted acceptance. It answers their objections in a satisfying way and shows what they must do now in order to choose life. But, of course, they need to get this magazine in their hands and read it in order to benefit from it. So, let’s be enthusiastic about offering it, along with The Watchtower, to everyone possible.
4 Who is there that you especially would like to encourage to read this issue of Awake!? Might it be the instrument that would help a relative who, until now, has just not responded? is there a neighbor who possibly would be moved by it? Why not make a list of these people whom you know personally and see that each one of them receives a copy. As you have observed, the appeal of the October 8 Awake! is broad. It involves every living human—agnostics, church members and others too. Give as many as possible the opportunity to read it. When arranging your service schedule for the month, could you plan to spend more time in magazine work than you usually do? What a blessing that might prove to be to those who obtain the magazine as a result of your added effort!
5 October, as you know, is a subscription month. We feature Awake! subscriptions, though you may offer both The Watchtower and Awake! for $2 if you prefer. True, some people have lots of magazines in their home, but are there any other magazines in the world that fill the needs that these two magazines do? Certainly not! While providing wholesome reading for the entire family, they also answer people’s most searching questions about life and point them to the only way to survive the “great tribulation.”
6 Even if they do not at first see the urgent need of having such information, Awake! has a way of making friends. It has a wide appeal. As a result, a newspaper columnist in Indiana wrote: “I was recently asked to analyze a number of popular magazines. . . . My favorite magazine today is Awake!” And a Catholic woman recently wrote to the Society to say: “Your Awake! is one of the finest little publications printed, and my husband and I enjoy it immensely.” They appreciate its wholesome, truthful outlook. This makes Jehovah’s witnesses welcome callers at their door, and it may help them to get on the road to life. So, regardless of what there is about the magazine that appeals to a person, urge him to subscribe. In the course of a year, he may get far more than he expected. Take a positive outlook. Offer subscriptions to workmates or classmates. Talk about subscriptions to those with whom you have recently started studies; they need them. And, by all means, during October offer subscriptions regularly from house to house.
7 When you make return calls on those who subscribe or who obtain the individual copies of the magazines, it should be easy to introduce the home Bible study. The special Awake! stimulates interest in eternal life; the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life can help to build on that interest. The magazine even describes the Truth book and explains the free study course. Offer to demonstrate how interesting it can be to find answers to their Bible questions.
8 It is a wonderful message that we are privileged to take to people of all kinds. It can change their whole outlook on life and open up to them the opportunity to live forever.