offered? This family was, and they write: “We gladly accepted the provision of a Bible study in our home. Now we are all back in Jehovah’s secure organization. I cannot express the happiness I feel. Our entire home is governed according to Bible principles. We have learned from our experience how necessary it is to apply all instructions from the Society, have a family Bible study and do our Bible reading daily.”

Do not deprive yourself of the happiness and contentment enjoyed among God’s people. You also can realize it again. One person, who had left off association with the congregation years before, recently attended a Bible study, and reported: “My mind went back to the time when I studied, and really, I had not known true contentment or inward joy since then.” Next he went to the Kingdom Hall, and he could not get over “the cordial atmosphere and the love and kindness of the brothers.”

You, too, will receive this same warm welcome at the congregation meetings. The brothers will be genuinely happy to see you again. So do not wait; go to a meeting this very week! Do not allow the thorns of materialistic desire to continue to choke off Christian fruitage from your life.

OPPOSITION FROM FRIENDS OR RELATIVES

On the other hand, is it opposition from friends or relatives that has caused you to forget your decision to serve God? Think, now. Did you agree to serve God only if you had no opposition? Are you going to allow what others say to cause you to cease attending Christian meetings and to stop following Jesus’ example of ministering to others?

It would be wise to give careful attention to what Christ said in this connection: “Whoever disowns me before men, I will also disown him before my Father who is in the heavens. Do not think I came to put peace upon the earth; I came to put, not peace, but a sword. For I came to cause division, with a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a young wife against her mother-in-law. Indeed, a man’s enemies will be persons of his own household. He that has greater affection for father or mother than for me is not worthy of me; and he that has greater affection for son or daughter than for me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not accept his torture stake and follow after me is not worthy of me.”​—Matt. 10:33-38.

From what Jesus said, it is evident that true Christians must expect family opposition, is it not? Yes, indeed! So, really, if your friends or relatives oppose true worship, the sincerity of your decision to walk in Jesus’ footsteps is put to the test.

You may somehow reason that keeping peaceful relations with these persons is a demonstration of love and, therefore, justifies quitting true worship. But is abandoning God’s service really showing love for the ones closest to you? If you quit when opposition arises, how will friends and loved ones be helped to appreciate that accurate knowledge of the Bible is of life-or-death importance? Actually, genuine love for them is shown by enduring their opposition and resolutely living up to your decision to serve God. You will thus afford your friends and relatives the best possible opportunity to learn the truths from God’s Word and to come in line for the everlasting blessings that Jehovah holds out to those who serve him.

True, this may be difficult. But do not fail to appreciate that it is Satan the Devil who is inspiring the persecution. So be courageous! As the apostle Peter said: “Take your stand against him, solid in the faith, knowing that the same things in the way of sufferings are being accomplished in the entire association of your brothers in the world.” (1 Pet. 5:9) Yes, Satan is using the same tactics on your brothers elsewhere, and they are standing faithfully! You can too. Prove it by getting back in the Christian race. Go to the congregation meetings! Do not put it off!

OTHER ATTEMPTS TO CAUSE YOU TO FORGET

There are many other ways in which Satan the Devil endeavors to stumble Christians and make them forget their decision to serve God. For example, someone in the congregation may say or do something that causes one to take personal offense. And instead of straightening out the trouble in the Scripturally prescribed way, the offended one allows the matter to become such a big issue in his mind that he leaves the Christian congregation.

But think: Is it pleasing to Jehovah God to permit anyone or anything to interfere with your service to him or your relationship with his organization? Most definitely not! So do not allow such attempts of Satan to cause you to forget God and his service. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose by staying away from congregation meetings and the association with your brothers.

A Christian cannot afford to be ignorant of Satan’s designs, and one of his most successful tactics is to cause discouragement. (2 Cor. 2:11) For example, one minister recently quit the ministry, explaining that the reason was that there simply was no response to the Kingdom message. Although this may be true, and even if people become increasingly cold toward God, is this reason to quit? Consider the ministry of the prophet Jeremiah to his unresponsive, stiff-necked countrymen, of whom Jehovah said: “You must speak to them all these words, but they will not listen to you; and you must call to them, but they will not answer you.”​—Jer. 7:27.

Although those Israelites were extremely cold toward God, Jeremiah faithfully continued preaching to them for some forty years. He got discouraged, true, and he thought about quitting, but his love of God’s truth impelled him to continue serving. He did not forget his decision to serve God. (Jer. 20:9) Copy that example, and if, for any reason, you have slowed down or abandoned God’s service, bestir yourself quickly and continue running the race for life. Do not allow Satan to have the satisfaction of causing you to go down into destruction. Take your stand against him! Assemble regularly with your brothers at congregation meetings! There you will find warm encouragement and the needed protection.

“Keeping Awake”

◆ The Hebrew name for the almond tree (shaqéd) literally means “the waker.” This is quite fitting since the almond is one of the earliest trees to bloom following the winter rest, blossoming as early as late January or early February in Palestine. In the Bible, at Jeremiah 1:11, 12, there is a play on words where the word “almond” (shaqéd) is followed by the expression “keeping awake” (shoqed): “The word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: ‘What are you seeing, Jeremiah?’ So I said: ‘An offshoot of an almond tree is what I am seeing.’ And Jehovah went on to say to me: ‘You have seen well, for I am keeping awake concerning my word in order to carry it out.’”