3月31日 给父母的一句话
给父母的一句话
我从未见过一个真正的圣徒，会不深切地挂念儿女与天父之间的关系。
作父母的，你们的儿女拥有灵魂，神要求你们在喂养他们的灵魂上所花的心思，至少要像照顾他们肉身的需要那样多。你们若不教导，谁还会教呢？一艘没有指南针就出海的船若是沉没或搁浅了，没有人会感到意外。既然如此，当儿女因没有得到任何属灵引导而远离了神，我们又何必惊讶呢？
古时的圣徒已为我们树立了榜样。大卫虽是忙碌的一国之君，仍看重教导儿子行主道的严肃责任，他说：“你当认识耶和华你父的神，诚心乐意地侍奉祂”（代上28:9）。更不必提提摩太的母亲和外祖母了，从提摩太幼年起她们就教导他明白圣经。我深信，一个人若不屑于让儿女认识神和通往神的路，就是在使人质疑他基督徒身份的真实性。我甚至敢说：我从未见过一个真正的圣徒，会不深切地挂念儿女与天父之间的关系。
到了末后的审判日，若你所能交待的只是：“主啊，这是我的儿女；我把他们培育成了体面的人，并给他们留下了丰厚的资产”，那么你所交的账将是何等贫乏！这岂不是对你自身愚昧的辛辣讽刺吗？你竟然肯为那些会生锈，会朽坏的东西付出如此之多，却不愿为那使人得救，存到永远的“认识神”而做任何努力！
仔细查考神的原则，便知此事是何等严肃。若我们忽略了对儿女的属灵训练，那么我们在许多方面都算是失职。
当你任由儿女处于无知中时，你显然辜负了他们。信心与不信，不仅是定义迥然不同，运作的方式也完全不同。信心若不播种就绝不会生长；即便播下了种子，若没有神的话语持续浇灌与培育，它也必会枯萎而死。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：利2-3章，约21章，
个人灵修：箴18章，西1章
MARCH 31, TUESDAY
A WORD TO PARENTS
I have never known a true saint who was not deeply concerned about his child’s relationship with the heavenly Father.
Parents, your children have souls which God expects you to nourish with at least as much care as you lavish on their physical needs. Who will teach them if not you? No one is surprised to hear that a ship put out to sea without a compass has sunk or run aground. Why should we be surprised to see children wander far from God, when they have received no spiritual direction?
We see a pattern set for us by the saints of old David, busy king that he was, thought it his solemn responsibility to instruct his son in the ways of the Lord: “Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind” (1 Chronicles 28:9). And what need I tell you of Timothy’s mother and grandmother, who taught him the Scriptures from the time he was a child? I believe a man calls in question his own Christianity if he does not bother to acquaint his child with God and the way that leads to Him. I will even go so far as to say I have never known a true saint who was not deeply concerned about his child’s relationship with the heavenly Father.
You will give a poor account at the Last Day if all you can say is, “Lord, here are my children, I bred them gentlemen and left them wealthy.” What a mocking witness to your own folly that you would do so much for that which rusts, and nothing for a knowledge of God unto salvation, which endures forever!
A careful study of the principles of God will show how serious this matter is. If we neglect the spiritual training of our children, we fail on many fronts.
You obviously fail your children when you leave them ignorant. Faith and disbelief are fundamentally different, not only by definition but in the way they operate as well. Faith will not grow without planting, and will die even where it is planted unless it is watered and fertilized with the Word of God.