Yeartext for 1977
“You have need of endurance, in order that . . . you may receive the fulfillment of the promise.”—Heb. 10:36.
It is now more than 3,900 years since Jehovah first promised Abraham: “In your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Acts 3:25; Gen. 12:3; 22:18) Abraham put faith in that promise. Without hesitation, he obeyed God and moved out of Ur of Babylonia, leaving far behind its idolatry and sin. Abraham became a tent dweller in a distant land, where, together with Isaac and Jacob, he awaited “the city having real foundations, the builder and maker of which city is God.”—Heb. 11:10; Jas. 2:23.
Today, ancient Ur is a lifeless ruin, whereas God’s “city” now rules as the kingdom of the heavens in the hands of the ‘seed of Abraham,’ the glorified Messiah, Jesus Christ. The “promise” is within our grasp! The unwavering example of Abraham and other men of faith of ancient times and, above all, the example of “the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus,” should stir us to hold fast to that promise, come what may! The blessings to be enjoyed in the realm of the Kingdom rule are indeed real, satisfying, and they will last forever.—Gal. 3:16; Heb. 11:8-16; 12:1-3.
Like Abraham of old, God’s people today are “no part of the world,” and for this reason the world “hates” them. (John 15:19) Moreover, “the god of this system of things,” Satan the Devil, is fully aware that he has only “a short period of time.” So, whom does he make his special target? It is the “remaining ones,” the anointed remnant of the “seed” of God’s “woman,” who, along with the “great crowd,” are ‘observing the commandments of God and doing the work of bearing witness to Jesus’ as enthroned Ruler in the kingdom of God.—2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:12, 17; 7:9, 10.
In these 1970’s, a wave of nationalism is sweeping through Africa, as well as other continents and islands of the sea. Satan is waging a “hot war” against Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many of them are having to stand for their lives. They are banned or under restrictions now in more than forty countries. Are you one who will endure, along with all other faithful servants of God? Or are you ‘taking it easy,’ getting involved in material pursuits, and so laying yourself open to attack by Satan? That could be disastrous!
Never has the Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making work been more urgent than at this hour! “For yet ‘a very little while,’ and ‘he [Jehovah] who is coming will arrive and will not delay.’” Can you become engrossed in doing “the will of God” for that “little while” longer? Can you find the way to be a regular or an auxiliary pioneer, or otherwise expand your service to God? Activity makes it easier to endure. And what is the reward of this endurance? Why, “the fulfillment of the promise”—Kingdom blessings that will never fade in all the eternity of time!—Heb. 10:36-39.