3月5日 不可倚靠血气
不可倚靠血气
“因为祂知道我们的本体，思念我们不过是尘土。”（诗103:14）
无论你是谁，若不重生，你的出身便是卑下的。你血管里流着的血，与街头的乞丐并无二致（徒17:26）。我们如何来到这世界，也必如何离去。既然没有人是由更精细的泥土造成的，也就没有人会化作更纯净的尘土而消散。
既然凡血气者皆是这等构造，你为何要将信心寄托在人身上呢？不要倚靠君王，他们连头上的冠冕都未必保得住，更何况自己的项上人头？也不要倚靠智慧人，他们的计谋常常反噬其身。人属肉体的聪明纵能预判百事，神却转动护理的轮子，照祂自己的旨意成就万事。也不要过分倚靠属灵领袖，他们同样是血气之辈，其判断并非绝对无误。敬虔人的过失有可能带你走入歧途；纵然有一天他悔改转回了，你却可能在错路上执迷不悟，甚至灭亡。不要信靠任何人——连你自己也不要信靠。智慧人说：“心中自是的，便是愚昧人。”
你既不该信靠血气，也不该惧怕血气。你已经看见了，这“器皿”是多么容易锈蚀和崩坏。大卫曾立定心志说：“我倚靠神……必不惧怕。血气之辈能把我怎么样呢？”（诗56:4）若你是基督徒，还有什么可怕的？你若已将自己献给基督，便没有什么生命是还会失去的。虽然神从未应许你免受苦难，可祂却应许会承担你所有的损失，并要百倍偿还——即便这奖赏要到了另一个世界才完全显明。
还有一个更令人安慰的念头：人不过是血气吗？我们天上的父深知这一点并且体恤我们的软弱：“因为祂知道我们的本体，思念我们不过是尘土。”（诗103:14）当你因着职责或试探的重压而精疲力竭时，神就会像母亲奔向受惊的孩子一样奔向你，用祂那甘甜的气息使你苏醒，绝不容你的灵魂灭亡。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：出16章，路19章，
个人灵修：伯34章，林后4章
MARCH 5, THURSDAY
PUT NO FAITH IN THE FLESH
“He knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).
Whoever you are, you are baseborn until born again. The same blood runs in your veins with the beggar in the street (Acts 17:26). We enter and leave the world alike; as one is not made of finer earth, so he does not disintegrate into purer dust.
If such is the composition of all flesh, why place your faith in any man? Do not trust in princes; they cannot keep their crowns on their own heads, nor their heads on their own shoulders. Neither trust in wise men, whose designs so often recoil upon themselves. Man’s carnal wisdom may predict whatever it likes, but God turns the wheel and brings forth His own providence regardless. Nor trust too much in spiritual leaders. They, too, are flesh, and their judgment is not infallible. The holy man’s mistake may lead you astray, and though he repents, you may go on and perish. Trust not in any man—not even yourself. “He is a fool,” the wise man said, “who trusts his heart.”
Just as you should not trust in the flesh, neither should you be afraid of the flesh. You have seen what a rusty bucket it is, how subject to decay. This was David’s resolve: “I will not fear what flesh can do unto me” (Psalm 56:4). If you are a Christian, what is there to fear? You have no life to lose if you have already given yourself to Christ. And while God has not promised immunity from suffering, He has undertaken to bear your losses and pay you a hundredfold, though your reward may not come until another world.
One more comforting thought. Is man mere flesh? Our heavenly Father knows it and makes allowances for our weakness: “He knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). When you begin to faint under the weight of duty or temptation, God rushes to you as a mother to her distraught child, revives you with His own sweet breath, and will not let your spirit die.