ARE YOU LIVING UP TO YOUR DEDICATION?

Proper View of Our Dedication

How do we view our dedication to God to do his will? Is it the first thing in our life? Regardless of our circumstances, whether young or old, married or single, healthy or sick, we should strive to live up to our dedication, in accordance with our circumstances. One person's situation may allow him to serve in the full-time ministry as a pioneer, as a volunteer in a branch office of the Watchtower Society, as a missionary, or in the traveling ministry. Some parents, on the other hand, may have have their hands full, caring for the physical and spiritual needs of the family. Are their relatively few hours spent in the ministry each month worth any less in Jehovah's eyes than the many hours spent by a full-time servant? No. God never expects from us what we do not have. The apostle Paul stated this principle: 'If the readiness is there first, it is especially acceptable according to what a person has not according to what the person does not have." - 2 Corinthians 8:12.

In any case, our salvation depends, not on anything we might do, but on Jehovah's undeserved kindness through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Paul clearly explained: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and it is a free gift that they are being declared righteous by his undeserved kindness through the release by the ransom paid by Christ Jesus." However, our works are proof of our active faith in God's promises. -Romans 3:23, 24; James 2:17, 18, 24.

There is no need for us to make comparisons with others in regard to our time in God's service, our placements of Bible literature, or the number of Bible studies we conduct. (Galatians 6:3, 4) Regardless of what we accomplish in the Christian ministry, all of us have to remember Jesus' humbling words: "So you, also, when You have done all the things assigned to you, say, 'We are good-for-nothing slaves. What we have done is what we ought to have done.' " (Luke 17:10) How often can we really say that we have done "all the things assigned " to us? So the question is, what should be the quality of our service to God? - 2 Corinthians 10:17, 18.

Next time: Making Each Day Count

Watchtower, 2001