Christians have been admonished not to tempt God no matter what they may be going through in life.

The advice was given yesterday afternoon on the first day of the Ota series of the 2012 “Safeguard Your Heart!” District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses holding at Ota, Ogun State, South-West Nigeria.

The talk “Avoid Testing God in Your Heart” based on Psalm 78:18,19, drew attention to the lack of faith displayed by the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land. Despite their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, the Israelites while in the wilderness had doubted God’s ability to provide their needs and resorted to grumbling and making unreasonable demands.

Reminding his listeners of the consequences of the Israelites’ attitude, for which that generation was prevented from entering the Promised Land, the speaker, Patrick Nwabuiwe, warned Christians to learn from what happened to the Israelites and avoid testing God.

“We, too, must not forget Jehovah or disobey him,” the speaker said, warning against willful sin, which he said makes a Christian’s worship defective.

Yesterday’s session was attended by 3,492 delegates, many of them non-Witnesses.

Ending tomorrow, this week’s convention is the first in a series of eleven such gatherings billed to be held each weekend at the Ota Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses from September 28 to December 7, 2012. Throughout Nigeria there will be 250 conventions in 32 cities.

A statement by the Convention News Department had described the convention as a three-day “heart examination” and invited everyone who can find the time to come and enjoy the convention, which begins at 9:20 a.m. all three days. The statement disclosed that “admission is free as conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses are supported entirely by voluntary donations.”

*Photo shows a cross section of the audience at the Ota Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses . . . yesterday.

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