YOUTHS-TRAIN YOUR PERCEPTIVE POWERS!

"KEEP strict watch that how you walk is  not as unwise but as wise persons, buying out the opportune time for yourselves, because the days are wicked."  (Ephesians 5:15, 16) Since the apostle Paul penned those words two thousand years ago, 'wicked men and impostors have advanced from bad to worse.'  We live in "critical times hard to deal with," or as another translation puts it times that are "full of danger." -2 Timothy  3:1-5, 13, Phillips.

You can avoid being harmed by the dangers that may lurk in your path, however, by developing "shrewdness, . . .knowledge and thinking ability."  (Proverbs 1:4)  Says Proverbs 2:10-12:  "When wisdom enters into your heart and knowledge itself becomes pleasant to your very soul, thinking ability itself will keep guard over you, discernment itself will safeguard  you, to deliver you from the bad way, from the man speaking  perverse things."  But just how can you develop those abilities? Says Hebrews 5:14:  "Solid food belongs to mature people, to those who through use have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong."  As with any skill, mastering the use of one's perceptive powers requires training.  The Greek word Paul used literally means  'having been trained like a gymnast!  How do you begin such training?

Next time: Training Your Perceptive Powers

Watchtower, 1999