12月9日 单纯的信心
12月9日，周二
单纯的信心
胜过世界的是谁呢？不就是那信耶稣是神的儿子的吗？（约翰壹书5:5）
“单纯的信心”，往往是我们最难学的一课。许多时候，我们之所以失败，是因为我们试图与罪“讨价还价”，或者凭着自己的力量去争战。从某种意义上说，“信心中的安息”就是：在某些时刻，我们不再倚靠自己的意志和努力去赢得这场对罪的争战，而是单单仰望基督，倚靠祂已经成就的救恩与能力。
为了说明这一点，让我举一个例子，会更清楚。我曾读过一份很小的单张。这份单张极其朴素，却非常准确地传达了这一教义的一个重要层面。
故事说到一位基督徒在南非的乡间旅行，由于当地遭遇洪水，他不得不暂住在一个像酒馆一样的小旅店里。他惊讶地、同时也深感忧伤地看到，许多农夫居然在短短几天内，把辛苦劳作一整年所赚到的钱全部花费在酒上。他们对酒有一种强烈的渴求，完全无力胜过。
其中有一位可怜的农夫特别引起了他的注意——这个农夫似乎是所有人中受捆绑最深最重的一个。于是这位基督徒便与他攀谈。起初，他跟这位农夫讲道理，提醒他妻子与孩子因他的酗酒必须承受多少痛苦。那人完全承认，并且讲述了自己是如何在几乎不知不觉间就一步步陷入其中，直到意识到时，自己已经成了酒瘾的奴隶。他说，他恨不得用整个世界来换取戒酒的能力；但如今，他已无法自救。
于是，这位基督徒便开始向他讲述信心的真义和得胜的可能，并告诉他那位来到世上拯救罪人的主耶稣基督。我会在明天的灵修里把这个故事讲完。
默想主题：
单纯的信心，往往是我们最难学的一课。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：代下9章，犹
个人灵修：番1章，路23章
December 9, Tuesday
THE SIMPLICITY OF FAITH
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 JOHN 5:5)
Simplicity of faith is one of the most difficult lessons to learn. Most of our defeats, I think, are due to the fact that we parley with sin, we attempt to fight it on our own. The rest of faith, in a sense, means that there are times when we do not even attempt to fight this battle against sin but simply look to Christ.
Perhaps an illustration will make my point clear. I once read a little pamphlet that was very simple but that, it seemed to me, shared the whole essence of this particular aspect of the doctrine. It was the story of a Christian in South Africa, traveling out in the country, and he came to an agricultural community. Owing to certain floods in the country, he had to stay where there was a kind of saloon or public house. He was amazed and saddened at the sight of the farmers, many of whom, he noticed, came there and spent in a few days all the money they had been able to earn and save as the result of their hard work through the year. They had a powerful craving for drink that they could not conquer.
He was especially attracted to one poor man who seemed to be a particular victim to this terrible affliction, and he began to talk to him. First of all he began to reason with him, pointing out the suffering that his wife and children had to endure. The poor man admitted it all and told the story of how he had been almost unconsciously led into it and found himself a helpless slave to drink before realizing that anything had happened—how he would give the whole world if he could stop it, but he was now a victim of it. Then this Christian went on to tell him about faith, the possibility of overcoming, and told him about the Lord Jesus Christ who had come into this world to save us. I will finish the story in tomorrow’s meditation.
A Thought to Ponder: Simplicity of faith is one of the most difficult lessons to learn.