12月17日 我对世界的看法
12月17日，周三
我对世界的看法
“我把这些事写给你们信神的儿子之名的人，是要你们知道自己有永生。”（约翰壹书5:13）
当我确知自己已拥有永生时，我会如何看待世界呢？对于我们生活的这个世界，每天在新闻与媒体中呈现出来的这个世界——我持什么态度呢？我最关注、最热切追求的是否是那些看得见的事物？抑或，我更关注那属灵的、看不见的事呢？
按着使徒约翰的教导，基督徒是那些对世界有了全新的看法的人。他们清楚地看见这世界被罪恶所辖制。他们已经将世界视为一个邪恶势力运行的战场，这世界全部的思想和意念，不过是那“属世的灵”在其中运作的结果。他们深知，世界是他们必须对抗、必须抵挡的对象，并且他们也意识到：若不如此，就必然会被世界掳去并且被击败。
我是否厌恶这个世界？有一个很好的检验方式，就是看使徒保罗如何看待他的处境。他说：“所以，我们并不沮丧，我们外面的人虽然渐渐朽坏，但里面的人却日日更新，因为我们短暂轻微的患难，是要为我们成就极大无比、永远的荣耀。我们所顾念的，不是看得见的，而是看不见的；因为看得见的是暂时的，看不见的是永远的”（林后4:16-18）。当我面对这些“看得见的事物”时，我有多少时间是花在思想主思想神上？又花了多少时间在默想祂那里的荣耀？我默想的更多的是永恒的事，还是属世的事？
默想主题：
我究竟花了多少时间在思想神那里的荣耀？我默想的更多的是永恒的事，还是属世的事？
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：代下19-20章，启8章
个人灵修：亚4章，约7章
December 17, Wednesday
MY VIEW OF THE WORLD
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 JOHN 5:13)
What is my view of the world when I know for certain that I have eternal life? What is my attitude to the world in which we are all living, the world as we see it in the newspapers? Is that what interests me? What am I anxious to obtain? Or am I more interested in other things—spiritual things? According to John, Christians are men and women who have come to view the world in an entirely new manner. They see that it is governed by sin. They have come to regard it as a place in which evil forces are at work and whose whole mind is but the working of the spirit of the world. They know that it is something they have to fight, something to withstand, and they realize that unless they do so, they will be defeated by it.
Do I hate the world? A good way of answering is this: The apostle Paul, looking at his surroundings, said, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . . . for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). In looking at “the things which are seen,” how much time do I spend in thinking about the Lord God? How much do I think about the glory that is with Him? Which do I meditate upon most—the eternal or the worldly?
A Thought to Ponder: How much do I think about the glory that is with God? Which do I meditate upon most—the eternal or the worldly?