4月20日 神必管教骄傲
神必管教骄傲
神在你灵魂的面孔上，印下了祂圣洁的形像。这种美丽的属性，正是使我们最像神的地方。
骄傲总想把一切最好的、最多的都据为己有，好满足它贪婪的胃口。这种贪得无厌的私欲，会吞噬你赞美神的心志。本来你应当称颂神，结果你却在那里为自己鼓掌。它也会吞噬信徒之间的爱，使你轻看与其他肢体的相交。它会拦阻你承认他人所领受的恩赐，因为那样一来，你为自己争抢的荣耀就要减少了。到最后，骄傲甚至会扭曲我们的口味，以至于凡是出自他人盘中的食物，我们都觉得索然无味。
哪里有骄傲掌权，哪里就有神的管教。神绝不会容许像骄傲这样的杂草在祂的园子里任意生长，而不采取行动将其连根拔除。祂也许会任凭你跌入某样罪中，使你在神和人的面前都大大蒙羞，逼得你只能羞惭地爬回家来；或者，祂会用一根“肉体上的刺”去刺破你那骄傲膨胀的气球。若你的骄傲已经威胁到了祂的荣耀，你就当预备好迎接神管教的杖。并且，这根杖多半会打在你骄傲扎根最深的地方。希西家夸耀他的财宝，神就差遣迦勒底人来洗劫；约拿因那棵蓖麻自乐，神就差虫来咬坏它。既然神在对付其他儿女时是如此严肃地处理这项罪，你还敢指望祂对你生命中的骄傲睁一只眼闭一只眼吗？
哪里有恩赐赐下，神就要在哪里查账。假设你的一位朋友去世了，指定你作他产业的执行人；但你没有照着遗嘱将产业分给继承人，反而把钱存进了自己的账户，还在城里到处炫耀自己多么富有。你能用这种虚假的繁荣欺骗人多久呢？迟早，真正的继承人会出现，不仅要拿回属于他们的东西，恐怕还要把你告上法庭。从属灵的意义上说，你不过是神产业的执行人。祂把恩赐交给你，也给了你明确的吩咐，告诉你要如何分配使用。等你将所有该支付给继承人的“遗赠”支付完成后，你会发现，真正留给你自己可以夸耀的其实所剩无几。你绝不可片刻忘记：那交托在你手中的才干，终有一天你都要向神交账。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：利24章，诗31章，
个人灵修：传7章，提后3章
APRIL 20, MONDAY
GOD WILL CHASTEN PRIDE
God stamps His image of holiness on the face of your soul. This attribute of beauty is what makes us most like God.
Pride must have the most and best of everything to satisfy its appetite. This voracious lust will devour your spirit of praise. When you should be blessing God, you will be applauding yourself. It will eat up Christian love, and cause you to disdain the fellowship of other Christians. It will keep you from acknowledging the gifts of others, because that would take away some of the glory you want for yourself. Ultimately, pride so distorts our taste that we can relish nothing drawn from another’s dish.
Where pride reigns, God chastens. God will not allow such a weed as pride to grow in His garden without taking some course or other to root it up. He may let you fall into a sin that will humiliate you before men and God, and force you to come crawling home in shame. Or He may use a thorn in the flesh to prick the balloon of your pride. If your pride has placed His honor in jeopardy, expect to feel God’s rod of correction. Most likely it will be applied to the very spot where your pride is rooted. Hezekiah boasted of his treasure; God sent the Chaldeans to plunder him. Jonah was proud of his gourd; God sent a pestilence to destroy it. Can you expect God to wink at this sin in your life when He has dealt so firmly with it in His other children?
Where gifts are bestowed, God calls an audit. Suppose a friend died and named you executor of his estate. But instead of dividing up his inheritance according to the instructions left in his will, you took the money and put it in your own bank account, then went around town bragging about how rich you were! How long could you fool people with your false prosperity? Sooner or later the rightful heirs would show up and not only take what is theirs, but probably sue you as well. In a spiritual sense, you are only God’s executor. He has given you gifts, and specific instructions on how to dispense them. By the time you have paid all the legacies, you will see little left for yourself to brag or boast of. Never forget for a moment that you will be held accountable for the talents left in your care.