Wow!
Just...WOW!!
What a statement...what a bold set of words to choose as a topic for the encouragement of the friends. I hesitated to use such words; I didn't want anyone to see this as "clickbait"...or misleading.
Please be assured, my dear brothers and sisters...I can back this up...scripturally.
Please join me in reading the following two verses...well known verses may I add. The first is:
Jeremiah 20:9: "So I said: “I am not going to make mention of him, And I will speak no more in his name.” But in my heart it became like a burning fire shut up in my bones, And I was tired of holding it in; I could no longer endure it."
The second, much like it...is the following:
John 7:38: "Whoever puts faith in me, just as the scripture has said: ‘From deep within him streams of living water will flow.’”
What do these two verses have in common?
Simply this: WeMUSTpreach...it simply is not an option to do otherwise for Jehovah's servants.
Now, before I go further...please understand...I am not using this as a mechanism to judge ANYONE on theAMOUNTof service they perform...that is between each of us and Jehovah.
No, my dear friends...I am simply pointing out the obvious...we, like Jeremiah...like ALL of Jehovah's servants...we simply cannot keep the truth to ourselves.
Nor should we...or we would die.
To illustrate this...please follow along with me as...once again...I will share with all of you...a point that a very kind and loving elder from a different congregation shared with me a couple days ago.
After I researched his words...I was stunned, shocked, dismayed...and then, oddly enough, I became settled.
My hope and prayer, friends...is that this will do the same for each of you. Our lives are harsh enough...Satan is ramping up opposition in ways that has never been experienced by humans before...and all of usneedas many hugs from our creator as possible...and that is my goal here tonight: May each of youFEELJehovah God's arms enfolding you...may each of youFEELhis genuine smile of love and approval as you consider the following question and scriptural points...and may each and every single one of youFEELthecurrentof electricity as it flows through each of us earth wide...lighting up the entire planet against the darkness and dank chill of Satan's wicked system of things as it unwillingly dies away.
Are you ready for the question?
I wasn't.
The setting was his Kingdom Hall, and as were just meeting to talk about our weeks, I never expected our conversation to turn to the subject of our service to Jehovah...and how, as Jehovah's people...we simply could NOT HOLD BACK from telling others the truth whenever we get the opportunity.
The brother stood outside the kingdom hall with me, each of us staring off into the distance. Even the noise of nearby traffic couldn't stop our appreciation of Jehovah's creation...he was idly watching a butterfly flit and flutter from flower to flower in the yard of the kingdom hall...my gaze was locked onto a crow perched on a tree branch near us...it's intelligent gaze watching both of us as it co*cked its head this way and that...cawing at us several times.
Finally, he swung his wizened gaze to me and asked the following question...stopping me in my tracks: "Why do you think the Dead Sea has no life in it?"
I hesitated...waiting for some brilliant point that had been long ago stored in my memory to come swirling up to the surface of my brain...but, unfortunately...that didn't happen. So, to appear reasonably intelligent...I opened my mouth and promptly inserted my foot...
"Because of the high salt content...nothing can survive there." I replied, semi-confident of my answer.
He shook his head, his gaze returning to the butterfly...which had now alighted on the side of the Kingdom Hall wall. "That's what everyone believes...but it's not the truth."
Disbelief must have been written all across my face...because he glanced at me and, smiling...told me to Google it.
So... I did...and boy was I shocked.
"What makes the Dead Sea so unique and lifeless? The answer lies in its geography: it has many inlets but no outlets. Water flows into the Dead Sea from the Jordan River and other sources, but it has no way to flow out. This results in the accumulation of salts and minerals, making the water inhospitable to life."
"Do you get it?" He asked, allowing me to digest the words...allowing me to work it out.
"Many inlets...and no outlets?" I asked.
"Exactly!!" He said, his eyes leveling with my own. "Fresh water must go in... butIT MUST ALSO GO OUT."
No matter how many sources of fresh, sweet, clear and cold water we have comingIN... we must also have that same crystal-clear stream of water goingOUT...or we will become stagnant...and dead.
In other words...how can we add to Jesus' command of being the "light" of the world if electric current goesINTOour bodies...but never comesOUT?
We will be darkness...indistinguishable from the rest of Satan's world.
We will provide no light or warmth to our brothers and sisters who need us so much...and we could end up on the outside of Jehovah's organization...alone, cold; shivering from the constant battering of a world who is quite literally dying around us.
His point wasn't to make anyone feel bad about their individual service time...it was actually the opposite.
He wanted me to see myself how Jehovah sees me...no matter how often my wicked lying heart slaps me around, trying to desperately convince me otherwise:
To Jehovah...I'm either alive...or I'm dead.
And if I'm alive...spiritually speaking...IMUSTshare the truth...and IWILLshare it...no matter how often...no matter how "little"Imay feel that is.
His words worried me...wasIdoing all thatIcan in Jehovah's service?
No, simply put...the honest answer is...no...I am not.
But does that make me "dead" spiritually?
No, no it doesn't.
I am trying...and Jehovah sees my situation. He judges each one of us by what we cancurrentlydo...not what we could do last year, last month...or even yesterday.
So to each and every single one of you...my dear brothers and sisters...please understand this: Jehovah looks out over the sea of humanity every single day...and the vast majority of what he sees are stagnant pools of stinking water in which nothing big can grow at the moment...and then he sees us...nearly 9 million strong...and each and every single one of us are doing something that wouldn't evenoccurto the rest of humanity...we are honestly trying!!
Please remember this kind elder's lesson: It simply doesn't matter how many sources of pure waters of Truth we have flowing into our lives...if we have nothing flowing out...we WILL die...it's that simple.
Why?
Because...at the end of the day...we are...Jehovah's WITNESSES.
