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When the holidays began, a small boy named Caleb and his sister Sarah went to visit their grandparents. He was playing with a slingshot in the yard, trying to hit his targets, but he always missed. Because of that, Caleb ended up being unmotivated, gave up, and returned home for dinner.

On his way back, he saw his grandmother’s pet duckling. Then, on impulse, he grabbed his slingshot and fired, hitting the duck and killing it. Shocked and sorry for what he had just done, he hid the duck in a corner, because only his sister had seen what had happened. Sarah, his sister, told nothing to anyone.

“On impulse, he took his slingshot and hit the duck, killing it. He hid the duck in a corner, since only his sister had seen it.”

Caleb returned home, and after dinner, his grandmother said, “Sarah, please help me wash the dishes”. However, Sarah looked at her and argued: “Grandma, my brother told me he wanted to help you wash today”. Then she turned to her brother and murmured, “Do you remember the duck?”

So Sarah went to play, and Caleb stayed in the kitchen helping his grandmother with the dishes. The next morning, they both wanted to go fishing, but the grandmother said, “Unfortunately, I need Sarah to stay and help me make lunch.” Without wasting time, Sarah smiled and said to her grandmother: “But grandma, don’t worry, because Caleb told me that, in fact, he wanted to stay and help you!”

Sarah looked at her brother and murmured again: “Do you remember the duck?” And then she went out and went to play in the lake while her brother stayed in the kitchen helping his grandmother. After a few days of doing his sister’s tasks and his, Caleb couldn’t take it anymore.

“Then she murmured to her brother, “Do you remember the duck?”

He then approached his grandmother and confessed that he had killed her duck. His grandmother, however, knelt in front of him, hugged him, and said, “Honey, I already knew! I was at the window when you hit him. I saw everything. But I love you, and I forgive you. I was just watching how long you would accept your sister’s bullies.”

WHAT IS THE LESSON?
Whatever happened in your past, whatever Satan continues to throw at you, remember: Jehovah, like the grandmother, was at the window, and he saw everything. He was just waiting until you would let Satan control you as your slave.

Never forget that the best thing about Jehovah is that he loves you and not only forgives you but also forgets.

“The best thing about Jehovah is that he not only forgives, but also forgets.”

A speaker was giving a public talk, and then he started to tell a story of a wolf and a farmer. He started:

“Brothers and sisters, I am going to tell you a story about a farmer who kept sheep and constantly had problems with wolves. This farmer loved his sheep so much and did not want to lose any of them. One day, the wolves appeared on his property, and the farmer ran and quickly grabbed his shotgun and fired, killing all the wolves.

But as he aimed his shotgun in the shade, he could see a wolf cub huddled beside the fence. The farmer took pity on him, picked him up, put him inside his coat, and took him home.

Over time, the wolf cub grew up, and the farmer became attached to him. He always took him to help take care of his sheep, and they also loved the wolf cub; they thought he was one of them.

The wolf cub learned to call sheep by their names, just as the farmer did, and the farmer trusted him to look after his sheep when he had to go to town to buy something.

However, one day, the wolf cub was walking through the farmer’s field and heard a noise in the bushes. He ran to the fence to see what it was and found a pack of wolves. They seemed happy to see him.

But, the wolf cub did not recognize them. Then, each of the wolves began to tell him everything they were doing for fun. They could run anywhere they wanted, do what they wanted, without orders.

So, they invited him to go to the other side of the fence with them. The wolf cub began to think that he had never crossed over to it.

The more he listened, the more he thought about the other side of the fence, and so he started to wonder if he was missing something. Immediately, he started digging under the fence and went out with the other wolves.

“The more he listened, the more he thought and wondered if he was missing something”.

He lived with the wolves for three seasons. They had plenty of food and did what they wanted.

Everything seemed so much fun, and he felt so happy because he was sure he had made the right choice by joining the pack. However, winter was coming, and with that came the hunger and the cold, leaving the place where they slept very icy.

The wolf cub began to think about when he was with the farmer and how he never slept, feeling cold and hungry. Soon, he heard the pack leader announce that it was time to pick up some sheep from the farmer so they could survive the winter. The wolf cub then exclaimed, ‘Do not hurt them, they are my friends!’ But the leader replied: ‘Now you are one of us and you will do as I say’.

The leader gave the order, and everyone started running towards the farmer’s land, and the wolf cub followed. As soon as they reached the fence, they started to dig, but the farmer, hearing the flurry of his sheep, picked up his shotgun and ran to protect them.

He killed all the wolves, one by one, and suddenly came face to face with the wolf cub, who had also dug the fence with the others. Desperate, the wolf cub shouted, “Wait, don’t shoot! It’s me, the wolf cub you raised! Don’t you remember me?”

The farmer watched him and felt that he smelled like all other wolves. Then the farmer said, “No, I don’t know you.” He took his shotgun and shot him.

“The farmer watched him and even felt that he smelled like the other wolves”.

When the speaker finished telling the story, there was silence in the Kingdom Hall. He looked at the audience and said, “Brothers and sisters, when Armageddon arrives, and Jesus fulfills his role as executor, will he recognize you?”

Lesson:
It is necessary to make use of the world only for what is necessary, without mixing with it, so that your ‘brand’ as a Christian is not lost or overshadowed. Ask yourself: are you using the world in a way that your brand is not perceived?

Do you look so much like your co-workers, classmates, or neighbors that even your way of speaking, acting, and dressing is like theirs? Is your ‘smell’ like theirs?

Could it be that after having made changes in your life and ‘dressing up with a new personality’, you let yourself be seduced by this world again?

You have to take a stand and be distinguished. You cannot be like a chameleon that behaves like a Christian in meetings and in front of brothers and sisters, but has the opposite attitude when they are not around.

When you are inside the fence, in Jehovah’s organization, you will be fed and cared for, and you will never feel cold, so you will never want to be outside it.

Think about it: do you always have time to watch a movie or go to a party, but when it comes to serving Jehovah, it’s difficult to fit it into the schedule? Where have you spent most of your free time, with spiritual things or having fun?

If you reflect on what Jehovah has already given you and continues giving, you will have many reasons to be close to him!

Strengthen your relationship with Jehovah every day, so you will never be carried away by the conversation of those on the other side of the fence!

“If we reflect on what Jehovah has given and gives us, we have many reasons to be close to Him!”