Daily text, Friday, December 23. 2016

[Queen Esther]

With the burial of a donkey he will be buried.—Jer. 22:19

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2016/12/23.

We can find Bible accounts of some who received a rich spiritual heritage but failed to appreciate it. That was true in the family of one prophet, Samuel, who served Jehovah from a young age and had a fine record with God. (1 Sam. 12:1-5) Samuel set an example that his sons, Joel and Abijah, would have done well to imitate. However, they did not appreciate this, and they turned out to be bad. The Bible record tells us that unlike their father, they “perverted justice.” (1 Sam. 8:1-5) It was similar with King Josiah’s sons. Josiah set a superb example in worshipping Jehovah. (2 Ki. 22:8; 23:2, 3, 12-15, 24, 25) Yet, when three of his sons and one grandson in time became kings, not one of them showed appreciation for what had been passed on to him. (2 Ki. 23:31-34; 24:8, 9, 18, 19) How sad to see that these men who had such a promising background and the opportunity to do what was right let it go to waste! w14 12/15 4:4-6, 8