(路加7章36节）Luke 7:36
有一个法利赛人请耶稣和他吃饭，耶稣就到法利赛人家里去坐席。 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7章34-48节 Scripture Reading: Luke 7:34-48
我有一位时常一起钓鱼的好朋友，他是一个很细心的人。在穿上防水长靴，带齐了全部的钓鱼工具之后，他坐在卡车车斗的尾端，细查河面至少十五分钟，搜寻接近水面的鱼儿。过后，他说：「不用钓鱼了，这里根本没有鱼！」 这使我想起另一个问题：「我是否想要在无鱼之处得人如鱼？」
耶稣说祂是税吏和罪人的朋友（路加福音7章34节）。身为基督徒，我们要和基督一样走入人群，但却不要效仿世界。因此我们必须问问自己：我是否和耶稣基督一样与罪人为友？ 倘若我们只与基督徒交朋友，我们便是冀望在无鱼之处得人如得鱼了。
与非信徒相处是「得人如鱼」的第一步，下一步则是爱，就是一份由衷的仁慈，使你能看见他们内在的挣扎和灵魂的呐喊。你可以问：「可以多告诉我一些吗？」然后以同理心的怜悯持续关怀。乔治‧赫伯特牧师（1593-1633年）如此说：「这份友善的情谊就隐含了许多教诲。」
这样的爱并非出于人类天生本能，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，愿我倾听忧郁的声音，关怀疲惫的面容、下垂的眼神。愿我能放下自我，愿我渴慕从祢的爱而来的活泉，愿我今日能倾听他人的心声、展现祢的恩慈、传扬祢的真理。」DHR
我们并非储存槽，当成为上帝流通的管道。
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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