Thursday, February 6
[Joseph and Mary] were accustomed to go from year to year to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.—Luke 2:41.
Joseph and Mary worked together to keep their relationship with Jehovah strong. They understood the importance of worshipping Jehovah together as a family. (Luke 2:22-24; 4:16) What an excellent example for married couples today! If you have children, as did Joseph and Mary, it may be challenging to attend meetings or to schedule time for family worship. It may be even harder to coordinate time to study or pray together as a couple. Yet, remember that when you worship Jehovah together, you draw closer to him and to each other. So make worship a priority. If your marriage is strained, the idea of being together for family worship may not seem appealing. If so, begin by considering something short and enjoyable. This step can strengthen your relationship and your desire to do spiritual things as a couple. w23.05 22 ¶7-8
Friday, February 7
Obadiah greatly feared Jehovah.—1 Ki. 18:3.
How did wholesome fear affect Obadiah? For one thing, it made him honest and trustworthy; hence, the king put him in charge of the royal household. (Compare Nehemiah 7:2.) Obadiah’s godly fear also gave him extraordinary courage—a quality that he surely needed. He lived during the reign of wicked King Ahab. (1 Ki. 16:30) Also, Ahab’s Baal-worshipping wife, Jezebel, hated Jehovah so much that she tried to wipe out true worship in the northern kingdom. She even killed many of God’s prophets. (1 Ki. 18:4) When Jezebel began hunting down God’s prophets to put them to death, Obadiah took 100 of them and hid them “by groups of 50 in a cave and kept supplying them bread and water.” (1 Ki. 18:13, 14) If discovered, courageous Obadiah would surely have been executed. Of course, Obadiah was human, and he did not want to die. But Obadiah loved Jehovah and those who served Him more than he loved his own life. w23.06 16 ¶9-10
Saturday, February 8
I, Jehovah, am . . . the One guiding you.—Isa. 48:17.
Jehovah continues to lead his people today as he did in the past. He has been doing so by means of his Word and his Son, the head of the congregation. Can we see evidence that God has also continued to use human representatives? Yes. Consider, for example, certain developments that took place in the late 1800’s. Charles Taze Russell and his associates began to discern that the year 1914 would mark a turning point regarding the establishment of God’s Kingdom. (Dan. 4:25, 26) In reaching that conclusion, they depended on Bible prophecy. Was Jehovah guiding their Bible research? He clearly was. In 1914 world events confirmed that God’s Kingdom had begun to rule. World War I broke out, followed by pestilences, earthquakes, and food shortages. (Luke 21:10, 11) Jehovah was indeed using those sincere Christian men to help his people. w24.02 22 ¶11