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‘Choose Whom You Will Serve’The Watchtower—1956 | January 1
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21. Choosing to serve Jehovah brings what obligations?
21 “The memory of the righteous is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot.” (Prov. 10:7, AS) Those who refuse the ransom will die eternally and thus be annihilated, never having any existence. Just as Jehovah God recorded through his prophet Jeremiah: “They shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.” (Jer. 51:57, AS) All persons who have dedicated their lives to the service of Jehovah God must realize that being a Christian is a serious thing; and, as expressed by Moses, “You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way, for Jehovah will not leave the one unpunished who takes up his name in a worthless way.” (Ex. 20:7, NW) One should not think that because he has dedicated himself to Jehovah God and was baptized in water, God now is obligated to do everything for him. God certainly will carry out his part of the agreement in blessing and caring for one; but the slave, who says that he will give exclusive devotion to Jehovah God, must also carry out his part of the arrangement. He must show that he is a slave, and an obedient one of the Sovereign Ruler. One’s life is dependent on his true, genuine worship, and ‘the Father is looking for such kind of worship,’ for he is “a God exacting exclusive devotion.”
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“My Load Is Light”The Watchtower—1956 | January 1
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“My Load Is Light”
1. How do Christendom’s supporters think of one’s becoming a footstep follower of Jesus?
MOST people in the world take the course of least resistance, and they follow the way of the great majority, which leads into sin and eventually death and annihilation. Some think that being a Christian is a very difficult task, and greater than they can bear in this wicked world. Many do not mind being “Christians,” so called, of Christendom, where they can practice all the self-indulgences, carrying on the lusts of the flesh as Christendom approves; and they feel that they are doing all right. But to be a real Christian, one who is walking in the footsteps of Christ Jesus, is considered in the minds of most people a hard thing to do. But how can we harmonize the supposedly difficult task of being a Christian with the expression of Christ Jesus, who said: “My load is light”? Let us see what Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and become my disciples, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.”—Matt. 11:28-30, NW.
2, 3. (a) What does Jehovah require of his dedicated servants? (b) How did Jesus himself comply with that requirement and arrange for others to do so?
2 Just what does Jehovah God require us as Christians to do? As we examine the Scriptures we find that the first thing is to preach the Triumphant Kingdom message throughout all the world for a witness to all nations. All people are able to talk in some language and express their feelings and their thoughts. And if one has a real, deep feeling of devotion to Jehovah God and has the mind of Jehovah as expressed in his Word, then he will preach good news to others. This in itself certainly is not a difficult task. Those of mankind who have been toiling and slaving in the Devil’s organization and have made themselves slaves to it Jesus invites to leave their loaded-down condition and come to him and be refreshed. Jesus does not ask you to take the yoke upon yourself and do all the work alone. The marginal rendering of this expression “Take my yoke” says, “Get under my yoke with me.” In other words, pull the same load and do the same thing that Jesus did when he was upon the earth. His assigned work was to preach to the lost sheep of Israel and get them in line for the blessings of God’s kingdom. Not only Jesus himself did such preaching but he sent his disciples out to the villages to preach the good news of the Kingdom. At his feet he wanted them to become learners of Jehovah’s purposes and then to tell them out on every occasion.
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