us to pray: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:10) Is God’s will being done on earth today, filled as this world is with the oppression of communism, hot and cold wars, delinquency on all social levels, and disease ravaging the peoples of all nations? Let sincere persons turn to 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and read these same conditions foretold by God as a warning to us to turn aside from this world and look away from it for the fulfilling of the divine will. Turning aside from empty promises of men, let such sincere persons lift up their hearts in response to God’s promise of a new earth as pointed out to them from the Bible by Jehovah’s witnesses. Let such read from their own Bibles God’s assurance that righteousness will prevail throughout all the earth, that man will live in peace and prosperity without fear for all time to come.—2 Pet. 3:13; Isa. 66:22; Ps. 78:69; Rev. 21:1-4.

17. How should the issue confronting the world today be met?

¹⁷ Now let such sincere members of the world’s religions ask themselves, Is this not a worth-while hope? Is it not a worth-while effort to consider such promises of God? Would it not be short-sighted to ignore such hope of blessings and the organization that points the way to realization of these hopes? Truly can it be said that God’s sheep have been scattered and are ravished by this world and, as Jesus’ heart turned to them in pity, so today the Great Shepherd, Jehovah God, through his shepherd Son Jesus Christ, turns the attention of his witnesses to all corners of the world to proclaim the truth that will set them free. (John 8:32) How foolish is the irresponsible attitude of some who say: “I’ll do the best I can now and take my chances when the time comes”! This is the course of least resistance, and all who follow it are certain to fall into the snare set by the god of this world. The issue that confronts the world today must be met with positive action on the part of all those who sincerely desire to keep God’s kingdom interests first in their lives.

Resisting Entanglement with This World’s Interests

 1. What three obstacles are there to friendship with God?

KEEPING Kingdom interests first requires not just positive acts of obedience. It requires also restraint from wrongdoing. It is clear from God’s Word that friendship with the world is enmity with God. “Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.” (Jas. 4:4) This means that the Christian who is interested in doing the divine will must learn to recognize the three main obstacles to friendship with God and avoid them. These are Satan the Devil and his demons, man’s own imperfection of flesh and the world of which Satan is the god.—2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 6:12; Matt. 26:41.

 2. How did Jesus resist the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life?

² Jesus himself recognized that “everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world.” (1 John 2:16) His example in resisting these temptations is a model for us to follow. After spending