DAILY TEXT, Today  Wednesday, October 4, 2023,  Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you (Luke 10:20).

Let us examine the scriptures every day 2023

Wednesday October 4

Do not rejoice because the spirits remain subject to you. Rather, rejoice because your names have been written in heaven (Luke 10:20).

Jesus knew that his disciples would not always have spectacular experiences in ministry. In fact, we do not know how many of those people who listened to the disciples became Christians. The disciples should feel happy not only because people listened to them, but above all because they knew that Jehovah was pleased with their efforts. If we do not stop preaching, we will obtain eternal life. When we make every effort to sow and cultivate the seeds of truth, we also sow “with the spirit in mind,” for we allow the holy spirit to act freely in our lives. “If we do not grow tired,” Jehovah promises that he will give us eternal life, even if we fail to help anyone reach baptism (Gal. 6:7-9). w21.10 26 paras. 8, 9.

Why does what we do for Jehovah not always give the results we had hoped for?

When the Bible speaks of the person who does God's will, it says, “Whatever he does will succeed” (Ps. 1:3). But that does not mean that everything we do for Jehovah will turn out the way we want. Our imperfection and that of others make life “full of problems” (Job 14:1). Furthermore, our enemies may be able to temporarily interrupt our free preaching (1 Cor. 16:9; 1 Thes. 2:18). So how does Jehovah measure the success of our ministry? Let's look at some principles from the Bible that will help us answer this question.

How does Jehovah measure the success of our ministry?

Jehovah notices our efforts and our endurance. For him, our ministry is a success if we carry it out with diligence and love, regardless of people's reaction. Paul wrote: “God is not unjust and does not forget your works or the love you showed for his name as you served the saints and continued to serve them” (Heb. 6:10). Jehovah does not forget our efforts and our love, even if those efforts have not brought us good results. So, we can apply Paul's words to the Corinthian Christians: “His work in connection with the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). And this is the case even if that work has not resulted in what we expected.

What do we learn from what the apostle Paul said about his ministry?

The apostle Paul was an extraordinary missionary and founded congregations in many cities. Still, when some Christians who believed themselves superior to him criticized him and said he was not a good teacher, he did not talk about how many people he had led to baptism. Instead, he defended himself by saying, “I have worked harder” (2 Cor. 11:23). Let us follow Paul's example and remember that for Jehovah the most important thing is our efforts and our endurance.

What does people's reaction to our message depend on?

People's reaction depends mainly on what is in their hearts. Jesus explained this truth in the parable of the sower. In this story, a man sowed seeds in different types of soil, but only those that fell on the good soil bore fruit (Luke 8:5-8). Jesus said that different types of soil represent people's hearts, which respond in different ways to “the word of God” (Luke 8:11-15). Just like the sower, we have no control over the fruit of our work, since it depends on what kind of heart the people who listen to us have. Our duty is to continue sowing the seed of the message of the Kingdom. As the apostle Paul said, “each person will receive his reward according to his work,” not according to the results of his work (1 Cor. 3:8).

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