Daily text, Saturday, March 18. 2017

[Queen Esther]

                          Serve Jehovah Without Distraction
If anyone would minister to me, the Father will honor him.—John 12:26.

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2017/3/18

Among the crowds in Jerusalem were some Greek proselytes who evidently were so impressed with Jesus that they asked the apostle Philip to arrange a meeting with him. Jesus, however, refused to be distracted from the more important matters that lay ahead. He certainly did not want to try to gain popularity in order to avoid a sacrificial death at the hands of God’s enemies. So after explaining that he would soon die, he said to Andrew and Philip: “Whoever is fond of his life destroys it, but whoever hates his life in this world will safeguard it for everlasting life.” Rather than satisfy the curiosity of those Greeks, he recommended following his self-sacrificing course and said the words of today’s text. No doubt, Philip carried this positive message back to the inquirers. (John 12:20-25) Though Jesus refused to be distracted from his main purpose of preaching the good news, he was not always thinking about work. w15 10/15 3:13, 14