“Today, Ask God to Remove Every False Trust 今天就求神除去每一種錯誤的信靠“(Jeremiah 耶利米書 17:9-10)
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.’
人心比萬物都詭詐,無法醫治;誰能識透呢? “我耶和華是察透人心,試驗人肺腑的,要照著各人的行為,和各人所作的事應得的結果報應各人。”
Many of us are good at arranging our lives and things so as to get on well enough without divine aid while at the same time ostensibly seeking it! We can prove our faith by our committal to it — and in no other way. Any belief that does not command the one who holds it is only a pseudo belief. It might shock some of us profoundly if we were brought suddenly face to face with our beliefs and forced to test them in the fires of practical living! What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they must do at the last day. Today is the best time to invite God to remove every false trust, to disengage our hearts from all secret hiding places, and to bring us out into the open where we can discover for ourselves whether we actually trust Him. This is a harsh cure, but it is a sure one!
我們許多人善於安排生活與事情,為的是不需要神的幫助,也能善加處理,同時卻假意尋求祂!我們的信仰只能藉著我們對它的委身來證明,此外別無他法。任何信仰若不支配持守者,便僅是偽信仰而已。如果我們突然處於直接面對自己的信仰,並被迫在實際生活的烈火下考驗起來,這或許會令我們當中一些人大大震驚!當下我們所迫切需要的,是一群現已準備完全信靠神,就如在最後一天必須信靠一樣的基督徒。今天是邀請神除去我們每一種錯誤信靠的最佳時候,把我們的心從一切隱密處解放出來,並帶我們進到顯露處,讓我們在其中為自己能發現是否真實地信靠祂。這是個嚴格的療法,卻萬試萬靈!
Prayer: Sovereign God, the advice ‘be true to your heart’ fails when the heart is deceitful above all things. ‘Follow your heart’ is poor advice when the heart is desperately wicked. Heart-fulfilment is not necessary the key to happiness and what we desire is often not what we need. You are the life-giver, the sustainer, the source of our refreshment and the One who cleanses us of all our sin. Help us to trust in you alone and become an evergreen tree planted by your living water bearing fruits all the time. Amen.
禱告:至高無上的神啊,當人心比萬物都詭詐時,「要對自己的心真誠」這忠告便失效;當人心極其邪惡時,「跟隨自己的心」便是拙劣的忠告。心的成全不是快樂必須的鑰匙,而我們所渴望的,往往不是我們所需的。你是那生命賜予者、維持者、我們恢復活力的源頭,並那使我們眾罪得潔淨者。求你幫助我們單單信靠你,成為栽種在你活水邊的常青樹,常常結果子。阿們。