至于我和我家人,我们必定事奉上帝。 As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

无鱼之处 Fishing Where They Ain’t


August 8, 2011 — by David H. Roper
(From: Our daily Bread, http://odb.org/ and http://chinese-odb.org/)

(路加7章36Luke 7:36
有一个法利和他吃,耶就到法利人家里去坐席 One of the Pharisees asked [Jesus] to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat.

读经: 路加734-48 Scripture Reading: Luke 7:34-48

我有一位常一起的好朋友,他是一个很心的人。在穿上防水靴,了全部的工具之后,他坐在卡车车斗的尾端,河面至少十五分,搜接近水面的儿。后,他:「不用了,里根本没有!」 使我想起另一个问题:「我是否想要在无得人如?」
稣说是税吏和罪人的朋友(路加福音7章34)。身基督徒,我要和基督一走入人群,但却不要效仿世界。因此我须问问自己:我是否和耶基督一与罪人友? 倘若我只与基督徒交朋友,我便是冀望在无得人如得了。
与非信徒相是「得人如」的第一步,下一步,就是一份由衷的仁慈,使你能看内在的扎和灵魂的喊。你可以:「可以多告我一些?」然后以同理心的怜怀赫伯特牧(1593-1633年)如此:「份友善的情含了多教。」
这样并非出于人天生本能,而是只能出于上帝。所以我们应当如此祷告:「主,当我今日与不信的人同在,愿我郁的声音,关怀的面容、下垂的眼神。愿我能放下自我,愿我渴慕从祢的而来的活泉,愿我今日能听他人的心声、展祢的恩慈、传扬祢的真理。」DHR
并非存槽,当成上帝流通的管道。

I have a good friend I fish with now and then. He’s a very thoughtful man. After climbing into his waders and boots and gathering up his gear, he sits on the tailgate of his truck and scans the river for 15 minutes or more, looking for rising fish. “No use fishing where they ain’t,” he says. This makes me think of another question: “Do I fish for souls where they ain’t?”

It was said of Jesus that He was “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). As Christians, we are to be unlike the world in our behavior, but squarely in it as He was. So we have to ask ourselves: Do I, like Jesus, have friends who are sinners? If I have only Christian friends, I may be fishing for souls “where they ain’t.”
Being with nonbelievers is the first step in “fishing.” Then comes love—a heart-kindness that sees beneath the surface of their off-hand remarks and listens for the deeper cry of the soul. It asks, “Can you tell me more about that?” and follows up with compassion. “There is much preaching in this friendliness,” pastor George Herbert (1593–1633) said.

“Such love is not a natural instinct. It comes solely from God. And so we pray: “Lord, when I am with nonbelievers today, may I become aware of the cheerless voice, the weary countenance, or the downcast eyes that I, in my natural self-preoccupation, could easily overlook. May I have a love that springs from and is rooted in Your love. May I listen to others, show Your compassion, and speak Your truth today.”

    
We are to be channels of God’s truth— not reservoirs.

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