Watchtower Study, “Keep Your Mind and Be Vigilant!” Week of April 17-23, 2023, Practical Comments and Answers.

Watchtower Study, “Keep Your Mind and Be Vigilant!”, April 17-23, 2023, Comments and Answers. 

"Keep your senses and be vigilant!" (1 PE. 5:8).

1. What did Jesus tell his disciples about when the end would come, and what advice did he give them?

Jesus did not tell them the day or the hour of when the end would come, because he told them that no one knew that, except only the father, but he did advise them to stay awake and vigilant so that it would not come by surprise.

2. Why did Christians living in the Jewish system have to be vigilant?

Because although they were not going to face the end of this system of things, they would face the end of the Jewish system and they had to be vigilant, because it depended on this that they could save their lives.

Because being vigilant saved their lives. Jesus explained to them that one day Jerusalem would be surrounded by encamped armies. When that happened, they would have to flee to the mountains. for if they did, they would be saved. Therefore, it was essential that they remain vigilant to this instruction and to the events that will lead to the destruction of Jerusalem.

And we see that these advices of Jesus were wise, since many to whom Jesus spoke when they saw Jerusalem besieged, what they did was follow the instructions to the letter, fled and managed to save themselves.

3. What will we analyze in this article?

What we are going to study in this article is what to do to maintain balance in terms of world events and how to remain vigilant and make the best use of the time that this system of things has left.

LET'S LOOK AT WORLD EVENTS WITH BALANCE

4. Why should we be interested in world events?

Because what happens in the world is related to Biblical prophecies and also marks the beginning of the end of Satan's system. So we are interested in knowing to see in the current of the time in which we find ourselves in relation to the purposes of Jehovah. 

Because world events fulfill the prophecies of the Bible and confirm that we are living in the time of the end. In fact, Jesus, Peter and John encourage us to be very aware of the events that would occur in this time, because these would help us to know that the end of Satan's system is near.

5. What should we watch out for when talking about Bible prophecies, and what should we do? (See also pictures).

We must avoid speculating on how prophecies may be fulfilled. For example, the paragraph mentions that we may hear political leaders talk about peace and perhaps we take it for granted that the prophecy of 1 Thessalonians 5.3, which talks about peace and security, is being fulfilled, for this reason we must keep up to date with what the faithful and prudent slave has told us to avoid giving our personal criteria.

When talking about Biblical prophecies we must be careful not to say personal ideas that can divide the Congregation. It is advisable that when we talk about these issues with our brothers we base what we say with what the Organization of Jehovah has explained, in this way we will contribute to the Congregation remaining united in the same way of thinking.

ILLUSTRATION

In the images we can see that two married couples are aware of world events, but in the case of the first couple they draw their conclusions based on a news item they have seen on television, for this reason, later, the brother expresses his point of view. personal view regarding the matter to other sisters, but by their faces, it is seen that they do not agree with what he says. On the other hand, the other couple, perhaps saw the same news, but they come to our site to be up to date with the most recent explanation that the Governing Body has given. Then, what they do is offer publications that talk about the events of the end of this system. In this way, they follow the advice of 1 Corinthians 4 not to go beyond what is written.

Images of two married couples who react differently to world events. 1. A couple sees on the news that some world leaders sign a peace treaty. Later, at the Kingdom Hall, the same couple enthusiastically tell two sisters their opinion. 2. Another couple views a report from the Governing Body. Later, they preach to a man who has approached the cart. What should we watch out for when talking about Bible prophecies, and what should we do? (See paragraph 5). 

6. What do we learn from 2 Peter 3:11-13?

What we learn is that since time is short we must take advantage of what is left to carry out acts of conduct and make sure that everything we are doing is motivated by the love we feel for Jehovah.

We learn that we want to be very aware of the presence of the day of Jehovah, the reasons why we want to use our time in the best way to perform Holy acts of conduct and acts of devotion to God, we want to make sure that everything we do for Jehovah is motivated for the deep love we have for him.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WATCH OURSELVES?

7. What do we have to do to keep an eye on ourselves? (Luke 21:34).

Well, the text of Lucas says that we watch our hearts, that is, it is not only a watch on the outside but it is also a watch on our interior, what other people do not see. So, for example, we should do a self-examination and ask how our interior as a person, and see if something is threatening our way of acting or something we are doing may be threatening our friendship with Jehovah, and if so, then we must get to work.

What we must do is follow Jesu s' advice to watch ourselves, this means that we must be attentive to all things that can harm our friendship with Jehovah and do everything possible to avoid them.

8. What advice did Paul give Christians?

Well there Paul uses some words that are quite strong, he says that we stop behaving like fools, if we do not continue to be wise, this means that Satan is going to try by all means to end our spirituality, that is where we must be wise, know how to understand now what is the will of Jehovah and thus be able to resist the attacks of Satan.

This advice was very timely because, Paul knew that Satan tries to destroy our spirituality, but if we choose to do Jehovah's will we will be able to resist his attacks.

9. How do we understand what Jehovah's will is for us?

So we understand this will, when we do not neglect our study of the word of God, likewise when, for example, we read, we must always meditate on what we are reading, not read and move away and start doing other things. We must also see how we can put it into practice, how, for example, to see subtle situations that could lead each of us to lose this friendship with Jehovah.

We understand what Jehovah's will is when we regularly study his word in the Bible and meditate on it. It is also when we strive to have the mind of Christ, this will result in behaving wisely, even on occasions when there is no standard or specific point telling us what to do in a certain situation.

10. What are some of the dangers that we must avoid?

We must avoid flirting with people of the opposite sex, drinking or eating excessively, also for example using hurtful words, as well as the way we entertain ourselves, for example we must avoid violent entertainment or pornography that today in the world is a way of entertaining many people.

We must also avoid things that can damage our mind and our relationship with Jehovah, for example envy or dishonesty, greed, pride, and even resentment, are things that Satan can use so that we end up leaving someone behind. aside our friendship with Jehovah.

It may be that at first these are only very strong impulses, but if we do not uproot them immediately, it can be detrimental in our service to Jehovah, since as mentioned, our relationship with Jehovah may be affected.

11. What is a subtle danger, and why should we avoid it?

Well, it's subtle because sometimes we don't realize that these can hurt us, they are bad companies. Because little by little we may be accepting their customs and as the paragraph said at the beginning, we may think or let them ignore them, but later, since we spend a lot of time with them, this will influence our minds and our way of acting. , so it can end up jeopardizing our spirituality.

The danger is bad companies, that is why we want to be vigilant against this subtle danger, because as 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, bad companies spoil good customs. The truth is that the people we spend with influence us a lot, so we want to watch ourselves and not spend more time than necessary with those who do not respect Jehovah's standards.

LET'S TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TIME IN THE BEST WAY

12. What were Jesus' disciples to do until the conclusion of the system was reached?

Well, Jesus himself told them that they had to reach the most distant part of the earth, that is to say, go to the most distant parts, as far as they could go, we know that they were not going to reach the whole earth, but as far as they could. possible.

Jesus gave them the mandate to preach the Good News in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth. Therefore they had an enormous mission to fulfill and take advantage of their time to do this work.

13. Why should we make the best use of time? (Colossians 4:5).

We must take advantage of time in the best way because as Ecclesiastes 9:11 says, some unforeseen event can come to all of us and we can lose our lives unexpectedly.

The text of Ecclesiastes 9:11 says that the unforeseen event happens to all of us, that is, the moment may come when we are alive and suddenly some accident is no longer there, so that is why we must take advantage of the time, perhaps it is wrong to be thinking about that, but things like that happen. So if we don't take advantage of the time today, we may soon be gone and we haven't done anything for Jehovah, so we must make the most of the time.

14, 15. What is the best way to use our time? (Hebrews 6:11, 12; see also image.)

Doing what Jesus himself told his followers to preach and spread the Good News. So that is what we can do that we too declare the good news throughout the earth, and also not only that, but we are also going to strengthen our friendship with Jehovah.

The best way to take advantage of our time is to do Jehovah's will, that is, to fulfill the commission to Preach the Kingdom. Hebrews 6:11 and 12. invites us to do this work diligently while we wait with faith and patience for Jehovah to end this system and allow us to be heirs of his promises.

ILLUSTRATION

In the photo in the image, we see how some sisters use and make good use of their time to teach a Bible student about Jehovah.

The sister who was watching the news and the sister who was watching a report from the Governing Body give Bible classes to a woman. She is shown the video “How are our meetings?” What is the best way to use our time? (See paragraphs 14 and 15).

16. What are we determined to do?

As Micah 7:7 says, we are determined to always be aware of Jehovah and wait patiently for the God of our salvation.

We are determined with this study to remain vigilant, until we patiently wait for Jehovah to bring the end of this system of things.

WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?

What can we do to not lose balance when we see world events?

What we must do then is to continue studying the word of God, continue meditating on the prophecies related to the end time and avoid giving our personal opinions regarding the world events that we see.

We learned that what we can do when we talk to our brothers about world events is to base what we say on what Jehovah's Organization has explained, and not on our personal ideas. In this way we will contribute to the congregation staying united in the same way of thinking, also the best thing we can do is use our time to carry out Holy acts of conduct and acts of devotion to God, we want to make sure that everything we do for Jehovah is motivated by the deep love we have for him.

What does it mean to watch ourselves?

The text of Luke chapter 21 verse 34, well there in that text, it says to watch our hearts. So this means that we should self-examine our interior as a person, see for example if something is threatening our friendship with Jehovah.

It means that we will be attentive to all things that can harm our friendship with Jehovah and we will do our best to avoid them, which is why it is necessary to regularly study the Bible and meditate on it, so we will learn to detect dangers and avoid them.

How can we make the best use of time?

The best way to take advantage of the time is to do Jehovah's will, which was to declare the good news throughout the earth, in addition to continuing to strengthen our friendship with him.

The best way to take advantage of our time is by strengthening our relationship with Jehovah, this includes dedicating our time to the work of Preaching the Kingdom while we wait for Jehovah to end this system.