Making Your Decision
TIME and again well-meaning religious people speak of God as “trying to convert the world”. To help God to do this, they interest themselves, among other things, in home and foreign missions. However, if we judge by the progress made during the past century it becomes apparent that their goal of converting the world will never be realized, for not only has the so-called “non-Christian” population doubled during that time, but even what claims to be Christian is farther away from really being Christian than it ever had been. Clearly there must be a mistake somewhere.
In the first place let us note that God does not try to do anything. He commands and it is done. He said: “Light be. And light was.” (Gen. 1:3, Ro) Whatever he purposes he accomplishes: “I have spoken, and I will bring it about; I have purposed, and I will do it.” (Isa. 46:11, AT) Very obviously then, God’s purpose does not include his servants’ converting the world or that goal would not be getting farther and farther away from being realized.
But did not Jesus command his followers to make disciples of all nations and foretell that the good news of the Kingdom would be preached in all the world? True, but note that he did not command the converting of all nations but to “make disciples of people of all the nations”. Also, preach the good news of the Kingdom in all nations “for a witness”, not for the purpose of converting all of them. The facts show that these commands are being fulfilled; disciples are being made of all nations and the witness is being given worldwide.—Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20, NW.
That Jesus did not expect his disciples to convert the world is apparent from his own words as recorded at Luke 18:8 (NW): “When the Son of man arrives, will he really find this faith on the earth?” Note also his prophecy: “Just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be.” Certainly the world was not converted to God in Noah’s day in spite of the marvelous exhibition of faith that Noah gave in building the ark and in warning of the deluge.—Matt. 24:37; Heb. 11:7; 2 Pet. 2:5, NW.
The misconception as to God’s trying to convert the world is based on a failure to appreciate that Jehovah’s chief purpose is to vindicate his supremacy and name and that the salvation of creatures is at best only secondary thereto. Jehovah delivered the Israelites from Egypt, he tells us, to make a name for himself; the same reason why he delivered them from Babylon and restored them to Palestine: “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name.”—2 Sam. 7:23; Ezek. 36:22, AS.
Jehovah God does not need puny man for the accomplishment of his purposes. It is beneath his dignity and station to either coax or coerce any of his creatures to worship him. He resorts neither to threats of torment after death nor to physical harm in this life; Islam, the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and many others, to the contrary notwithstanding. He is a God of love and so appeals to love in his creatures. (Jer. 19:5; Rom. 2:4, NW) He bestows his blessings upon them and then advises them upon what conditions they can retain these and gain even more. Then it is up to them to make a decision, to accept God’s favors on his conditions or reject them and lose all.
MAKING THE DECISION IN TIMES PAST
Consider our first parents. They had life, the right thereto and many other blessings and prospects. To test their appreciation God made their enjoyment of these blessings dependent upon obedience to a simple command: merely not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree. If God had been interested only in the salvation of creatures, had he been a God who would “try to convert the world”, he would not have permitted that temptation to come to Eve. But he did permit it. And when the deceiver in the guise of a serpent presented the temptation to Eve, she had to make a decision either to obey God or to follow the suggestion of the deceiver. Because of lack of appreciation, lack of love and lack of faith, Eve made the wrong decision. And when she offered the fruit to Adam he also had to make a decision, to eat or not to eat. He likewise made the wrong choice, and so both of them eventually returned to the ground from which they were taken. The effects of that wrong decision have been felt by all mankind for about six thousand years now. (Gen. 3:19; Rom. 5:12) Ever since that time God has been putting it up to man to choose between the two ways, the right way and the wrong way.—Matt. 7:13, 14.
Jehovah’s relations with the children of Israel repeatedly showed this manner of dealing with his creatures. After having voluntarily gone on record at Mount Sinai as wanting to serve Jehovah, the Israelites time and again rebelled and so were laid low in the wilderness. (Ex. 19:5-8; 1 Cor. 10:5, NW) When God’s time came for them to enter the Promised Land a new generation had risen, and so Moses put up to them this matter of making a decision: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that you as well as your descendants may live, by loving the LORD your God, by heeding his injunctions, and by holding fast to him; for that will mean life to you.”—Deut. 30:19, 20, AT.
This matter of making a decision was particularly emphasized by Joshua some twenty years after the Israelites had entered the land of Canaan. Knowing he would soon die he called together all the tribes of Israel and squarely put it up to them as to whom they were going to serve. After recounting the way Jehovah had dealt with Abraham and his descendants down to their day, Joshua went on to say:
“Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve ye Jehovah. And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.” After hearing a record of Jehovah’s dealings with them and their fathers and the expression of Joshua’s own strong determination to serve Jehovah, the people replied: “Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods; for Jehovah our God, he it is that brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and that did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed; and Jehovah drove out from before us all the peoples, . . . therefore we also will serve Jehovah; for he is our God.”
But Joshua tried them to see if they really meant it, saying: “Ye cannot serve Jehovah; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins. If ye forsake Jehovah, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.” But the people stood firm by their decision: “Nay; but we will serve Jehovah. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.”—Josh. 24:14-22, AS.
When Christ Jesus was on trial before Pilate the Israelites again had to make a decision, between the Devil as represented by Caesar and Jehovah God as represented by his Son. They made the wrong decision on that occasion, shouting, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15, NW) They suffered the fearful consequences of that wrong decision in their complete destruction at Caesar’s hands A.D. 70.
MAKING OUR DECISION TODAY
Bible prophecy shows that the second presence of Christ Jesus has taken place, that he has been placed upon his throne and that he is now ruling in the midst of his enemies. (Ps. 110:1-3; Matthew, chapter 24; Rev. 11:15-18) By means of the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom and making known the name of Jehovah the issue is again being squarely presented to the people and again they have to make their decision: either for Jehovah’s kingdom by Christ Jesus or for the governments of this old world under the domination of Satan the Devil. (Matt. 4:8, 9; 2 Cor. 4:4, NW) “Be wise, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way, . . . Blessed are all they that take refuge in him.”—Ps. 2:10-12, AS.
The wise are willing to be instructed. They accept the evidence of reason: they see all about them a marvelous orderly universe which bears eloquent testimony that God indeed exists. (Rom. 1:20, NW) They examine the Bible and learn that its testimony is abundantly corroborated by the evidence of geology and archaeology. They note that the Bible is filled with prophecies, many of which have been fulfilled with remarkable accuracy. Only God could do that.—Isa. 41:22, 23.
From the Bible they learn that God’s original purpose for man and the earth was to have a paradise filled with perfect human creatures living together in harmony and worshiping their Creator and that since Jehovah God is omnipotent that purpose will be realized. (Gen. 1:26-28; Isa. 55:11) Also that today is a day of judgment and that everyone is receiving a mark, either the mark of the beast or the mark that Jehovah’s servants place on those who sigh and cry for the abominations they see committed in the land.—Ezek. 9:4; Rev. 13:15-17; 14:9, 10.
You individually cannot escape being marked. You cannot avoid having to make a decision. “He that is not on my side is against me, and he that does not gather with me scatters.” (Luke 11:23, NW) Which way will you decide? Will you choose to serve Jehovah God and set out on the right, wise, obedient, loving way, the way of appreciation and gratitude, which though cramped at present and having a narrow gate leads off to life, or will you take the line of least resistance, the selfish, easy broad way that leads off to destruction?
You have the facts; you can, you must reason on them and then reach a conclusion. And then what? Having chosen wisely you will need to back up your decision by a consistent course of action. “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.” (Jas. 2:17, NW) What works? The works set out in God’s Word and particularly as given by Jesus’ words and example. That means to make a dedication of oneself to God even as Jesus did at the Jordan when he said: “Look! I am come (in the roll of the book it is written about me) to do your will, O God.”—Heb. 10:7, NW.
And having dedicated yourself one of the very first things you will need to do is to give a public expression of that dedication by being baptized even as Jesus commanded his disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them.” (Matt. 28:19, NW) But you say that you were baptized as an infant? But were you? The word baptize comes from a similar Greek word which actually means to submerge or dip beneath the water, and so we find that both John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples completely immersed in water those who believed.—John 3:23.
Being immersed in water illustrates that we have died as regards the doing of our own wills and have been made alive as to the doing of God’s will. Having dedicated ourselves to the doing of God’s will it is most fitting that we make a public declaration of that fact, before witnesses. Infants could not do this for themselves. Also, by being immersed we have a vivid reminder that we have dedicated ourselves, which will help us to live up to our vows.
God’s will for Christians primarily consists of doing three distinct things. First of all, it means study of God’s Word and of Bible aids that help us to understand it so as to become more and more acquainted with God and his purposes so that we can intelligently co-operate with them. (2 Cor. 6:1) Secondly, it means using our lips to bring honor to Jehovah God and comfort to men of good will, for, we being Christians, our purpose in life must be the same as was that of Christ Jesus, and he said regarding his own purpose: “For this purpose I have been born and for this purpose I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.”—John 18:37; 2 Cor. 1:4; Heb. 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:9, NW.
And thirdly, we must make progress in the way of righteousness. We must be consistent; we must not only love Jehovah God, truth and righteousness, and our neighbor, but also hate that which is wicked and selfish. We must keep ourselves clean from the wicked world and its practices.—Isa. 52:11; Heb. 1:9; Jas. 1:27, NW.
Thus we see that God, far from trying to convert the world, gives his creatures the opportunity to choose and then take the consequences. Having made the right decision we must follow with a consistent course of action if we would share in God’s purpose for earth and man.
So keep strict watch that how you walk is not as unwise but as wise persons, buying out the opportune time for yourselves, because the days are wicked.—Eph. 5:15, 16, NW.