Daily text, Wednesday, January 17. 2018

[Queen Esther]

 

None of them knew how to speak the language of the Jews.—Neh. 13:24.

The inability to grasp God’s Word in a foreign language can pose a real threat to our spiritual health. In the fifth century B.C.E., Nehemiah showed concern when he learned that some children among the Jews who had returned from Babylon could not speak the Hebrew language. These children were actually losing their identity as God’s servants because they could not fully understand the meaning of God’s Word. (Neh. 8:2, 8) Some Christian parents serving in a foreign-language field have come to realize that their children’s interest in the truth has waned. Why? When we read in a foreign tongue, our heart may not be as involved as it would be in our own language. Moreover, the inability to communicate well in another language can be mentally and spiritually draining. So while keeping alive our desire to serve Jehovah in a foreign-language field, we do well to safeguard our spiritual health.—Matt. 4:4. w16.10 2:4-6

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2018/1/17