Let's Examine the Scriptures Every Day 2025
Saturday, August 9, 2025
If anyone wants to be my follower, let him deny himself and take up his torture stake day after day and follow me constantly (Luke 9:23).
You may have faced family opposition or made some material sacrifice to put the Kingdom first. (Matt. 6:33) If so, you can be assured that Jehovah knows all you have done for him. (Heb. 6:10) You have likely seen how true Jesus’ words are: “There is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fields for me and for the good news; but he will not receive now in this present time 100 times as much—houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields, though with persecutions—and in the coming system, eternal life.” (Mark 10:29, 30) The blessings you have received surely far outweigh the sacrifices you have had to make. (Ps. 37:4) w24.03 9 par. 5.
Why will you have to continue fighting against “the desires of the flesh” after being baptized?
After you are baptized, you will still need to struggle against “the lusts of the flesh.” (1 John 2:16) Ultimately, you will still be imperfect. You may sometimes feel like the apostle Paul, who said: “The man who is inwardly truly likes the law of God, but in my body I see another law warring against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at home.” (Rom. 7:22, 23) You may feel frustrated about having to fight evil desires. But thinking about the promise you made to Jehovah when you dedicated your life to him will give you the strength to resist temptations. The truth is, your vow of dedication will make your life easier when temptation comes. Why do we say this?
Why will being dedicated to Jehovah help us to be loyal?
When a person dedicates his life to Jehovah, he renounces himself. This means he says no to personal desires and ambitions that displease Jehovah. (Matt. 16:24) So when we face a trial, we won't have to wonder what we're going to do. For us, there will be only one choice: to be loyal to Jehovah. We will be fully determined to please him. When we dedicated our lives to Jehovah, we said no to all other options. We will be like Job, who, despite facing terrible hardships, affirmed with absolute conviction: “I will not give up my integrity.”—Job 27:5
Why will meditating on our vow of dedication help us resist temptation?
Meditating on our promise to do Jehovah's will will give us strength to resist any temptation. For example, are we going to flirt with someone who is married? Of course not! By dedicating ourselves to Jehovah, we have already closed the door to that option. Since we did not allow evil desires to take root in our hearts from the beginning, we won't have to endure the ordeal of struggling to uproot them later. We will completely distance ourselves from "the path of the wicked."—Prov. 4:14, 15.
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