DAILY TEXT, Today Friday, October 18, 2024,  Blessed are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice! (Luke 11:28).

Let us examine the Scriptures every day 2024

Friday, October 18, 2024

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice! (Luke 11:28)

Suppose someone prepares a favorite meal for you. But you are in such a hurry or have so many worries on your mind that you gobble it down without savoring every bite. When you finish, you realize how quickly you ate and wish you had slowed down and enjoyed the meal. The same can happen with Bible reading. You may be in such a hurry that you don’t have time to “savor” its message. Let’s take time to enjoy your reading by imagining the scenes, listening to the voices, and meditating on what you have read. If you do these things, you will be happier. Jesus has commissioned “the faithful and wise slave” to give us spiritual food at the proper time, and we are well fed. (Matt. 24:45) The main ingredient in everything the faithful slave prepares is the inspired Scriptures. (1 Thess. 2:13) w22.10 7, 8 pars. 6-8.

LET'S FEED OURSELVES IN A SPIRITUAL SENSE

What is the first step to being truly happy? (Psalm 1:1-3)

STEP ONE: To be truly happy, we must nourish ourselves spiritually. In order to continue living, humans and animals need physical food. But only humans can nourish ourselves spiritually—and we need to. That’s why Jesus said, “Man must not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Matt. 4:4). So let’s not let a day go by without nourishing ourselves with God’s precious Word, the Bible. The psalmist said, “Happy is the man … whose delight is in the law of the Lord; day and night he reads his law.”—Read Psalm 1:1–3.

What is the second step we must take to be truly happy?

STEP TWO: To be truly happy, we must obey Jehovah’s standards. The writer of a psalm said: “Happy is everyone who fears Jehovah, who walks in his ways.”—Ps. 128:1. Fearing Jehovah means that we respect him so much that we do not want to do anything that would displease him.—Prov. 16:6. So we continue to strive to follow his standards of right and wrong found in the Bible.—2 Cor. 7:1. If we do what Jehovah loves and avoid what he hates, we will be happy.—Ps. 37:27; 97:10; Rom. 12:9.

What is the third step that will give us true happiness? (John 4:23, 24)

STEP THREE: We must make sure that worshiping Jehovah comes first in our lives. Since Jehovah is our Creator, he deserves our worship. (Rev. 4:11; 14:6, 7) So the most important thing in our lives should be to worship him as he desires—“with spirit and truth.” (Read John 4:23, 24.) We want God’s holy spirit to guide our worship so that it is in accord with Bible truths. Our service to him should come first even if we live in a place where our work is restricted or prohibited. More than 100 brothers and sisters are currently in prison simply for being Jehovah’s Witnesses.c Yet they are happy because they do what they can to pray, study, and tell others about our God and his Kingdom. Even if we are insulted or persecuted, we are happy to know that Jehovah is with us and will reward us.—Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 4:14.

What happened to a young brother from Tajikistan, and why?

There are real-life experiences that prove that the three steps we have discussed make us truly happy, no matter what our circumstances. Take the case of Yovidon Boboyonov, a 19-year-old from Tajikistan. For refusing to serve in the military, he was forcibly taken from his home on October 4, 2019. He was held for months and treated like a criminal. Media in several countries reported on this injustice. He was reportedly beaten in an attempt to pressure him into taking a military oath and putting on a uniform. After that, he was convicted and sent to a forced labor camp until he was finally pardoned by the country’s president and ordered to be released. Throughout this ordeal, Yovidon remained loyal and happy. How did he manage this? By always acknowledging his spiritual needs.

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