12月31日 坚定的灵
12月31日，周三
坚定的灵
“求祢使我里面重新有坚定的灵。”（诗篇51:10）
基督徒身上总是带着一个鲜明的特征：深深地不信靠自己，同时深切地认识到神的大能。听听大卫的祷告：“神啊！求祢为我造一颗清洁的心，求祢使我里面重新有坚定的灵。”（诗51:10）和合本翻译是“正直的灵”，但新译本翻译为“坚定的灵”更加符合原文，意思是“稳定、不摇动的灵”。
你看，大卫清楚意识到的，就是自己里面的不稳定。他当然有理由有这样的感受：他曾经历神的赐福，也尝过主的喜乐；然而他却跌进了可怕的罪里。因此他呼求更新，求神在他里面赐下一个可靠、坚固的灵，使他不再飘忽摇摆。 我敢说，每一个真正的基督徒都明白这是什么意思。基督徒不是一个倚靠自己的人。只有基督徒才能真正认识到自己的软弱。也只有在圣灵光照之下，人才能看清自己内心的黑暗，认识到自己本性的脆弱与不可靠。令人惋惜的是，确实有一种“基督徒的样式”，表现得好像自己什么都能做：他经历了一次归信的感动，就以为自己现在可以面对地狱、面对魔鬼、面对一切挑战。可怜的人啊，他很快就会发现，那种自信经不起试探与现实的冲击。
所以使徒保罗才对这样的人发出警戒：“那自以为站得稳的，应当谨慎，免得跌倒。”（林前10:12）真正的基督徒则不是这样，他知道自己软弱，也惧怕自己的软弱；因此他会祈求神赐给他一个稳定的灵、可靠的灵。他渴望成为一个“稳健的人”，不是靠自己稳健，乃是靠神的恩典与保守站立得住。
默想主题：
真正的基督徒知道自己软弱，也惧怕自己的软弱。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：代下36章，启22章
个人灵修：玛4章，约21章
December 31, Wednesday
A STEADFAST SPIRIT
Renew a right spirit within me. (PSALM 51:10)
One characteristic of the Christian is always this: a profound distrust of self and a realization of the power of God. Listen to David: “Create in me a clean heart . . . and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). The Revised Version margin puts it this way: “Renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
You see, what he was conscious of was his own unsteadiness. Well might David have felt that. He was a man who had experienced God’s blessing, and he had known the joy of the Lord; and yet he had fallen into terrible sins. So he cries out for this renewal and for this reliable spirit within himself. I make bold to say that every Christian knows what this means. A Christian is not a man who relies upon himself. It is only the Christian who knows his own weakness. It takes a Christian to see the darkness of his own heart and the frailty of his own nature. There is a type of Christian, I regret to say, who behaves as if he can do everything. He has had an experience of conversion, and now he is ready to face hell and the devil and everything. Poor fellow, he will not go very far before he loses that sense of confidence. “Let him that thinketh he standeth,” said the apostle Paul to such people, “take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). No; the Christian is a man who knows his own weakness, and he is afraid of it. So he prays for a steady spirit, a reliable spirit. He wants to be a sound man.
A Thought to Ponder: The Christian is a man who knows his own weakness, and he is afraid of it.