value of the sacrifice of Christ, you will be able to do these with a clean conscience, for “the blood of Jesus his [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin.”​—1 John 1:7.

It is true that as you begin to make over your life in harmony with God’s righteous requirements, quite likely you may slip along the way from time to time. But this is no reason to be discouraged, for the psalmist David comfortingly wrote: “As far off as the sunrise is from the sunset, so far off from us [God] has put our transgressions. For he himself well knows the formation of us, remembering that we are dust.” (Ps. 103:12, 14) Let that assurance strengthen you to persevere in the right way.

Truly God’s Word is filled with comforting assurances to those who sincerely desire to do what is right, regardless of what their past course of action may have been!

Jehovah’s Witnesses Move Ahead in Canada

“AS RELIGION DECLINES, JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES MOVE AHEAD.” This headline in Montreal’s Le Petit Journal aptly describes what is taking place on the religious scene in Canada.

The article accompanying the headline explained: “As traditional religions slowly decline, their churches and temples getting emptier all the time, Jehovah’s Witnesses are experiencing increased membership and are even getting former church buildings and other new facilities in which to gather their new members.”

With an English Protestant and a French Catholic background, Canada was once a very religious country. Many still sincerely attend church services and try to practice their religion. But times have changed.

Today even outspoken advocates of such things as “abortion on demand” may continue as church members in good standing. The steady decline of religion’s influence in Canada is evident from such headlines as “Shortage of Priests Called ‘Panic’” and “Sunday Schools Declining.”

Jehovah’s witnesses, on the other hand, have steadily moved ahead. The Witnesses began their work of Bible teaching here in the 1880’s. At the time they wondered how it would be possible to reach all the people in this massive country, the second-largest in land area in the world. They went to work with diligence and conviction, and by 1914 there were 1,150 Witnesses busy proclaiming Bible truth to their neighbors.