Show Your Appreciation for Unseen Treasures - FRIENDSHIP WITH jEHOVAH

 

The greatest unseen treasure is friendship with Jehovah God. (Psalm 25:14)  How is it possible for God to  make friends with sinful humans and remain completely holy? He can do so because the ransom sacrifice of Jesus "takes away the sin of the world" of mankind.  (Note: that sacrifice is for the chance of having hope of everlasting life in God's new world. But we have to have God and Jesus Christ in our lives etc. in order for that to happen. But we still sin.  Hard to explain for anyone to understand. )  (John 1:29) Jehovah knew in advance that is his purpose to provide a Savior for mankind would not fail. That is why God could befriend humans who lived before Christ died. - Romans 3:25.

 Consider some pre-Christian men who became friends of God. Abraham was a man who showed outstanding faith.  Over 1,000 years after Abraham's death, Jehovah called him "my friend." (Isaiah 41:8) So not even death can separate Jehovah from his close friends. Abraham is alive in Jehovah's memory.  (Luke 20:37, 38)  Another example is Job. Before an assembly of the angels in heaven, Jehovah spoke confidently about Job. Jehovah called him "an upright man of integrity, fearing God and shunning what is bad." (Job 1:6-8) And how did Jehovah feel about Daniel, who served God faithfully in a pagan land for about 80 years? Three times angels assured that aged man that he was "very precious to God.  (Daniel 9:23; 10::11,  19) We can be certain that Jehovah longs for the day when he will resurrect his beloved friends who have died. - JOB 14:15.

How many imperfect humans today enjoy a close friendship with Jehovah? There are  millions.  We know this because so many men, women, and children earth wide are proving their conduct that they want to be God's friends. Jehovah's "close friendship is possible because of  their faith in Jesus' ransom sacrifice. On that basis, Jehovah kindly allows us to dedicate ourselves to him and get baptized.  When we take these important steps we join the millions of dedicated baptized Christians who are enjoying "close friendship"  with the greatest Person in the universe!

How can we show that we treasure God's friendship?  Like Abraham and Job, who remained faithful to God for well over a hundred years, we must remain faithful-no matter how long we have been serving Jehovah in this old system. Like Daniel, we must value our friendship with God more than life. (Daniel  6:7, 10, 16, 22) With Jehovah's help, we can endure any trials we may face and thus keep  our close bond with him. - PHILIPPIANS 4:13.

Next time: Show Your Appreciation for Unseen Treasures -THE GIFT OF PRAYER

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