God.” Away back then, in the twentieth century B.C.E., they were willing to forgo many of the comforts the world offered, because their hearts were set on a permanent city that God would build, a heavenly government under which they could live. If they had kept thinking about the place they had left behind, they could have returned to it. But they did not. “Hence God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon as their God.” (Heb. 11:8-16) Is God just as pleased with the course in life that you have taken?

19. (a) Why is ours a time of great urgency? (b) What may cause some who know these things to lose out on the blessings of God’s new system of things, and what timely warning does Jesus give?

¹⁹ We today live in critical times. These are the “last days” of this wicked system of things. Already over fifty-two years have passed since the Kingdom’s establishment in heaven in 1914. The end of six thousand years of human history is very close. The physical facts that mark our time as the “conclusion of the system of things” are unmistakable. (Matt. 24:3) It is a time of great urgency. Do we believe it? The fact is that some who profess to believe it may lose out on the blessings of God’s new system of things because they are not keeping their minds and hearts fixed on the hope ahead. Instead of finding contentment with “sustenance and covering” along with godly devotion, they are being sucked down into the world’s materialistic whirlpool. Their pursuit of the pleasures of the world is more ardent than their service to God. That is why Jesus warns: “Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth. Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man.”​—Luke 21:34-36.

20. In what way will we be able to continue to prove ourselves to be fruitful Christians?

²⁰ If our love for God abounds, and we have accurate knowledge of his Word, we will not allow ourselves to be drawn aside to worldly pursuits, but will keep our lives oriented around “the more important things.” In this way we will prove to be fruitful Christians, “filled with righteous fruit, which is through Jesus Christ, to God’s glory and praise.”​—Phil. 1:9-11.

Servants of God Full Time

 1. (a) How many of Jehovah’s witnesses are full-time ministers? (b) What is God’s will for true Christians as shown by Jesus, and how did the early Christians respond to it?

ALL of Jehovah’s witnesses, who are baptized Christians, are full-time ministers. They have dedicated their lives to God to do his will, and, having studied the Bible, they know what that will is. Jesus Christ, as Jehovah’s Chief Witness, set the example for them. (Rev. 3:14) He was a preacher of the good news of the kingdom of God, and he took that message to the people wherever they were. (Mark 1:14, 15; Luke 8:1; 4:15, 16; 5:27)