Prepare Now for Life in the New World

OUR BLESSINGS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN!

Does spending out time preparing for God's new world mean forfeiting a better or more fulfilling way of life today?  By no means!  Serving Jehovah is the most satisfying way of life there is.  It is not a matter of servitude under duress just so that we can pass through the great tribulation. It is the way we are designed to live, the way that yields the greatest joy.  Having Jehovah's guidance and experiencing his loyal love are far better than life apart from intimacy with him.  (Read Psalm 63:1-3.) Of course, we need not wait for the new world in order to enjoy spiritual blessings that result from wholehearted service to Jehovah-they are available  to us right now! Indeed, some of us have been reaping such blessings for decades, and we know from experience that no other  life course could produce greater satisfaction.  -Psalm 1:1-3; Isaiah 58:13, 14.

Personal interests and pleasures will have their place in God's new world. After all, why did Jehovah create us with a hunger for personal accomplishment and wholesome pleasures if he did not intend to have us satisfy these desires to the full? (Ecclesiastes 2;24) In this and other ways, Jehovah will always "satisfy the desire of every living thing." (Psalm 145:16) Recreation and relaxation  have their place, but the pleasure derived from them is increased when we put out relationship with Jehovah first.  It will also be that way in the earthly Paradise. How wise it is for us  to learn to keep personal interests in their proper place while we seek first the Kingdom and focus on the spiritual blessings now available to Jehovah's people!  -Matthew 6:33.

In the coming Paradise, we will attain happiness on a level that we have never before experienced.  May we show the intensity for the real life by preparing for it now. Let us cultivate godly qualities and find great joy  in sharing zealously  in the Kingdom-preaching work  that we have been given to do.   May we make the pursuit of spiritual interests our exquisite delight. And with full faith in Jehovah's promises, let us live now in expectation of life in the new world! 

Next time: Watch Your Associations in These Last Days

From the Watchtower magazine