How Can We Show That We Love Jehovah?

LOOK TO JEHOVAH FOR PROTECTION AND SALVATION

When little children sense danger, they instinctively run to their parents.  As children grow older, they learn to rely more and more on their own judgment and make their own decisions.  That is part of becoming  an adult.  However, those who enjoy a close bond with their parents are open to seeking the parents' opinion and advice before making a decision. Spiritually, it is similar.  Jehovah has given us his spirit, stimulating in us "the desire and the power to act."  Yet, it would reflect  a serious lack of love and trust  for us to make decisions without taking his will into consideration. -Philippians 2:13. 

Once in the days of Samuel, Israel was badly defeated in battle by the Philistines.  God's people were in dire need of help and protection.  What did they do?  "Let us take the ark of Jehovah's covenant with us from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and save us from the hand of our enemies," they decided.  The outcome?  "The slaughter was very great; on Israel's side,m 30,000 foot soldiers fell.  Moreover, the Ark of God was captured." (Samuel 4:2-4, 10, 11) It might have seemed that in taking the Ark with them, the Israelites  were looking to Jehovah for help.  Really, though, they had not sought Jehovah's direction; they were following their own ideas, and the result was disastrous. -Read Proverbs 14:12. 

The psalmist showed the right heart attitude when he wrote:  "Wait for God, for I will yet praise him as my Grand Savior.  My God, I am in despair.  that is why  I remember you." (Psalm 42:5, 6)  What deep feeling and love for Jehovah! Have you developed such love for and reliance on our heavenly Father?  Even if you are inclined to answer yes, you may able to increase  your reliance on him in line with what the Bible tells us:  "Trust in Jehovah will all your heart, and do not rely on your  own understanding.  In all your ways take notice of him, and he will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5, 6. 

By loving us first, Jehovah has shown us how to love him. Let us always keep in mind his surpassing example. And let us increasingly demonstrate  our love for him 'with our whole heart and with our whole soul and with our whole mind and with our whole strength.' -Mark 12:30. 

Next time: LIFE STORY/Jehovah's Blessing Has Enriched My Life -AS TOLD BY MELITA JARACZ

From the Watchtower magazine