Seeing that I was so gripped by what I read, my brother-in-law offered me this book and two others by the same author. How delighted I was with their treasures of Bible knowledge! I studied them all carefully, beginning with The Divine Plan of the Ages. Not having been indoctrinated with any of Christendom’s false teachings, my mind was open to facts and Bible reasoning.

I was and still am a slow reader, with only a moderate education, so it all took time. But from the first I was certain that I had found the truth about the Bible. I wrote the Watch Tower Society’s office in Melbourne and obtained all other books and Bible references available. By the time two years had passed I had read all six of Pastor Russell’s “Studies in the Scriptures.” What a spiritual feast! And to think that the perfect Creator was offering heavenly life to those who would be patterned after the image of his own Son!​—Rom. 8:29.

LEAVING ALL TO FOLLOW

Time and again these words from The Divine Plan of the Ages would keep recurring to my mind:

“To obtain this knowledge and this strength, which God thus proposes to supply to each runner for the heavenly prize, will surely test the sincerity of your [dedication]. You have [dedicated] all your time, all your talents, to the Lord; now the question is, How much of it are you giving? . . . But think not that the giving will end with the giving of the needful time and energy to this study: it will not. The sincerity of your sacrifice of self will be tested in full . . . If you give diligence to the Word of God, and receive its truths into a good, honest, [dedicated] heart, it will beget in you such a love for God . . . and such a desire to tell the good tidings, to preach the gospel, that it will become the all-absorbing theme of life thereafter.”

In the fall of 1918 I left my secular employment and made arrangements to start out in the full-time preaching work in Melbourne. My partner had a horsedrawn van and I had a bicycle. Off we went into rural territory, camping out wherever night overtook us. The first day​—no placements! But next day, making fresh effort to overcome initial nervousness, I shall never forget the thrill of placing that first set of books with someone really interested in the Bible!