“We Thought It Was the Police”

THE apostle Paul wrote that “the word of God is alive and exerts power.” (Heb. 4:12) Indeed, the Bible can exert its power by giving individuals a solid hope for the future and by helping them to transform their lives for the better.

At a recent assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses a young married man in Philadelphia explained how true this was in his life:

“Last summer during our vacation time my younger brother came from Hawaii to visit my wife and me. Together we went on a camping trip. Each night around the campfire he read his Bible to us. We could see that much of what the Bible says seemed to have reference to present-day events. So when he returned to Hawaii, my wife and I continued reading the Bible out loud to each other every day. We soon had finished all of the Christian Greek Scriptures and much of the Hebrew Scriptures.

“From our reading and from what we observed going on in the world, we came to the conclusion that a great destruction was about to come upon the earth and that only a small number of people would survive. We believed that then the earth would once again have an opportunity to develop its natural beauty.

“About this time a friend of ours came to visit from Vermont, and we told him the things that we had been learning from the Bible. He commented that we sounded like Jehovah’s witnesses. Not really knowing who Jehovah’s witnesses were, we gave no thought to his remark but continued our daily Bible reading. We were truly joyful for the first time in recent years, no longer being overly concerned with the horrible things we saw happening in the world.

“As the summer neared its end, we became somewhat discouraged. We could not understand everything we read in the Bible, and we didn’t feel that we should be all alone in our thinking. Yet when we examined the churches we could see that they were not preaching the Bible’s message and they were often carrying on practices condemned in the Scriptures.

“Then we came into possession of a copy of the Bible that used the divine name Jehovah. One day in real desperation we prayed to God, using the divine name for the first time. We prayed for understanding and help to know where to turn and what to do. After what seemed only a few minutes, the doorbell rang.

“Since we didn’t know other people in Philadelphia and because we had been involved with drugs, even having some hidden in the house at the time, we thought it was the police.

“Cautiously we went to the door and found that, instead of the police, it was a young woman and her son. She was a minister and was desirous of speaking with us about the very things concerning which we had just prayed. When she identified herself as one of Jehovah’s witnesses, I recalled my friend’s previous remark. After speaking about the Bible for some time, she left with us a copy of The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life and mentioned the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses. That very night we read through the entire Truth book. We realized that all of the scattered ideas we had gained from the Bible were put into a harmonious picture. The very next day we attended the meetings she had mentioned.

“Quickly my wife and I stopped our use of drugs. Within a short time I had shaved off my beard and had my hair cut to a reasonable length so that I would truly look like one who was interested in becoming a minister. Now my wife and I are both finding great delight in spending most of our time helping others to appreciate the beauty, power and hope of God’s Word.”