FOLLOW THE WAY TO LIFE

“Life is a gift” I’m sure most of us in the audience if not all of us have heard this saying before, Isn’t
that so brothers? Yes it is, but why should we consider life as a gift? Let us reflect on the basic things
we’re able to enjoy even as imperfect humans. For instance, Jehovah has given us the gift of sight, this
makes us able to appreciate all the beautiful things he has created for us on the earth, what about our
sense of taste? It lets us enjoy the variety of good food which Jehovah has provided for us. These are
just a few examples of how good or precious the gift of life is but why has our creator given us these
and many more abilities? Please turn your bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13 to see what
Jehovah wants for we his children, if you’re there it reads:” I have concluded that there is nothing
better for them than to rejoice and to do good during their life, also that everyone should
eat and drink and find enjoyment for all his hard work. It is the gift of God.” Our creator
himself wants us to find satisfaction and joy in the life he has given us, no wonder he has provided
wise instructions that can lead us to a happy life in this present system and in the new world to come?
But it’s left for us to decide if we are going to follow these simple instructions.

Now we might ask ourselves what are these instructions and where can we find them? Well let’s use a
simple illustration to see how easy these instructions can be. Imagine you were gifted an electronic
appliance, let's say a computer and along with it a manual is found in the box, brothers for whose
benefit is that manual put in there? For yours not so? Yes the creator of that computer knows how it
functions, they know how to maintain it so it’ll be in a perfect condition and last for years and how to
avoid damage. Brothers Jehovah is just like the creator of that computer, he’s the one who knows the
best way of life for we humans, he knows what will harm us and what things will be good for us, and
that is why he has also given us a manual (Raises bible up) to guide the way we live. And just like
the person who received a gift in the illustration, we too can show appreciation for the gift of life by
working diligently to learn and apply Jehovah’s instruction.

Now that we’ve identified the bible as a book of guidance or as “a manual” we want to dive into it to
see some specific instructions apply to us today. We’re going to be seeing the practical ways which the
book of proverbs can guide us to a happy life. Please keep it open. When it comes to having a happy
life there are three key aspects that shape our lives and we would be taking them one after the other.
The first one is:

How To Maintain Good Physical And Emotional Health: no doubt you all would agree with me
that as humans we need good food for our survival and for the nourishment of our bodies, but you’d
also agree with me that too much of anything can be bad to our health. This is why we want to follow
the advice given to us by Jehovah in the book of proverbs 23:20, 21 please open your bibles as we
read the counsel in that scripture, it reads: “Do not be among those who drink too much wine,
Among those who gorge themselves on meat, For a drunkard and a glutton will come to
poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.” Did you take note of this scripture? The
bible doesn’t condemn us from eating meat or drinking wine but it says we shouldn’t do it too much or
in excess, why? This is because under the Mosaic Law parents of a glutton or a drunkard were to bring
their son to the older men in the city and the person would be stoned to death. We can see the
seriousness of this issue, no wonder the book of proverbs 28:7 says “anyone who is a companion
of glutton disgraces his father.” But What about we in the audience today? We might not be
getting drunk and waking up in gutters but still there’s always room for improvement, we should ask
ourselves am I the type of person who has turned beer parlours and bars to my second home?, am I
the type of person who is always eating everything I can find without giving thoughts to my health? Am
I the kind of person whom society refers to as “longer throat or foodie?” If so, my dear brothers and
sisters please let us strive to make the necessary adjustments in our lives in order to show Jehovah
that we appreciate the life he has given us.
Another way to maintain good health both physically and emotionally is by not engaging in sexual
immorality. The world today has a very casual view of sex and just doesn't see it as a big deal. We hear
about things like hookups and baby mamas everywhere, but this shouldn’t be the case with us as
servants of Jehovah, we want to imitate the example of Joseph. He was raised in a God-fearing family
and he knew that sexual relationships between people who weren’t married was wrong which was why
he rejected all the advances from Potiphar’s wife telling her that it was “a sin against God” and we
all know how his story ended right? Even though he suffered at first he was later blessed by Jehovah
and used to keep his family alive. We too today especially the youths should see Joseph as an example
to imitate we want to remember that Jehovah’s standards are still the best and if we follow them we
would avoid consequences of premarital sex such as a guilty conscience, unwanted pregnancies, STD’s
and many more. No wonder the bible says that “anyone practising fornication is sinning against
his own body.”

Another way to maintain good health both physically and emotionally is controlling our emotions, apart
from the common knowledge that when we get angry we might become violent. Do you know that
losing your temper can increase the risk of you getting a heart attack, hypertension or even a stroke?
So brothers please try calming down when facing provoking situations that might expose you to anger.
And lastly brothers, for the sake of our health, we want to try and maintain a positive attitude and
avoid pessimism even though it’s not always easy due to challenges we might be facing.

The second aspect we’ll be considering is How to Cultivate a Balanced View of Money and
Material Things: It is common knowledge that in order to live a good life we need basic things for
survival such as food, clothing and shelter and in order to get these things we have to work for them
and put in the effort, in order words we need to a diligent worker like the one described in the book of
Proverbs 13:4. This can be compared to a brother who is seeking a privilege in the congregation
maybe to be a ministerial servant or an overseer, even though the desire is a fine one if this person
doesn’t put in the work to meet the requirements of that position and if he doesn’t reach out there’s no
way he is getting that privilege, so in a nutshell we need to work diligently in our lives. Another thing
which we also want to do is to maintain balance by keeping work in its place, please open your bibles
to the book of proverbs 23:4 to see the advice given there, if you’re there it reads: “Do not wear
yourself out to gain wealth. Stop and show understanding.” What does this mean? In simple
words, the financial world isn’t really interested in us as individuals and the protection money offers is
temporary, a financial crisis can occur overnight which can wipe out a person’s life savings, natural
disaster could occur and leave us bankrupt or homeless. A few months ago the CEO of a bank died in
a helicopter crash along with his wife, son and three other passengers, two days later someone else
took his position and life went on this is why it’s unwise trying to become rich because wealth can
disappear overnight, so brothers having food, shelter and clothing let us be content and leave the rest
in Jehovah’s hands. Let us strive to be content and to live a simple life as it would help us have a
balanced view of money and material things and we would therefore have enough time to serve
Jehovah.

Lastly brothers, we have gotten to the third and final point which is about How to Promote Good
Relationships with Others: please turn your bibles once more to the book of proverbs 12:18 as
we read it, if you’re there it reads: “Thoughtless speech is like the stabs of a sword, but the
tongue of the wise is a healing” now you might have heard of instances where a person commits
suicide because of the kind of words someone else might have said to them, in cases like this what
would you say kill this person the words not so? Yes and also when we talk about bullying is it always
physical? No is the answer, people get bullied most times with words either because of their beliefs,
their appearance or their culture, so let us each ask ourselves “what kind of words are coming out of
my mouth? Are my words stumbling others?” If yes is the answer, let us do well to change so that we
can communicate peacefully with each other.

A second way to promote Good relationships with others is by being a good listener, but why is this
important? Please turn your bibles to the book of proverbs 18:13, if you’re there it reads: “When
anyone replies to a matter before he hears the facts, It is foolish and humiliating” as we
know there are always different sides to a story so we want to be careful not to come to a conclusion
after hearing from one party this might become a problem especially when we’ve taken sides with one
party only to find out the whole truth and then we become embarrassed, also we want to check the
source of our information, what is the intention of this person telling us something? Is this person
known to be a busybody or a gossip and lastly is this information meant to destroy someone’s
reputation? These and many more questions are why we should not be hasty in our replies.

Another aspect of promoting good relationships is by letting go of resentment and being ready to
forgive. How can this benefit us? Let's use an illustration to see how forgiving can help us. Sister A was
coming home from the market, she was already in a bus to her destination when she saw sister B
waiting at the bus stop for another bus she called sister B but sister B didn’t hear her. Sister A comes
down from her bus to go and meet Sister B since they live in the same area as she got down from her
own bus sister B immediately enters another bus and it leaves immediately. When sister A sees this she
becomes angry at sister B because both buses have departed and sister A has to wait for another bus
to arrive. At the next meeting Sister A meets sister B and tells her she has been angry with her through
the week because of what happened at the bus stop and after pouring out her feelings sister B
apologizes but tells sister A she didn’t see her at the bus stop that day. Now brothers, whom would you
say benefits the most when Sister A chooses to forgive? Sister A not so? Yes is the answer, sometimes
when we are angry at someone the person might not even be aware of it at all so letting go of the
anger can be compared to bringing down a heavy load from your head after carrying for a long time,
we would finally be free!

Lastly brothers, we can promote good relationships with others by being the kind of friend described at
proverbs 17:17 We want to show concern and be present for our brothers and sisters when they are
facing problems or when they lose a loved one. It’s true that we might not have the right words to say,
but our mere presence can comfort them and show them that they are not alone!

My dear brothers and sisters, during this part of the symposium we have come to learn that life is a
gift, we have learnt how we can maintain good health by being moderate in our eating and drinking, by
abstaining from sexual immorality, and by controlling our emotions. We have also learnt that keeping a
balanced view of money and material things can help save us from unnecessary heartache and we’ve
seen why we should be content and live a simple life, lastly we have learnt how to communicate in a
way that promotes peace and about how our speech can be a weapon, we have also seen how letting
go of resentment benefits us and how to be a loyal friend in good or bad times. But like we all know
obeying instructions is not always easy to do or is it? No is the answer! Please give your undivided
attention to Bro Jiakpo crown as he highlights how The Fear of Jehovah Can Lead Us to Life!