4月22日 以己力为傲
以己力为傲
当你发觉自己的柜子里空无一物，而你所需的一切都在神那里时，你就会常常来到祂面前支取供应。
当彼得自恃灵命刚强，夸口自己的恩典时，他的结局如何？他信誓旦旦地说：“众人虽然跌倒，我总不能！”（可14:29）。他仿佛在向魔鬼下战书要一较高下，结果还没起跑，就已经跌倒了。基督出于怜悯，任凭撒但践踏彼得自以为是的恩典，好叫彼得看清真实的自我，从而把他从骄傲的高位上拉回现实。
你应当祷告，若主看见你正在攀爬属灵成功的阶梯，愿祂也同样怜悯你。当约押见大卫因国势强盛而心生自高，想要数点百姓时，约押便对他说：“愿耶和华你的神使百姓比现在加增百倍，使我主我王亲眼得见。我主我王何必喜悦行这事呢？”（撒下24:3）仆人骑着主人的高头大马，岂可因此自夸？园子因阳光照耀而绚丽，岂能以此自傲？对于我们身上每一丝一毫的良善，我们岂不应当像那丢失斧头的少年人一样说：“哀哉！我主啊，这斧子是借的。”（王下6:5）
你若倚靠自己那看似敬虔的品格，你在为基督尽本分的事上就会渐渐松懈。深知自己软弱，反倒会使你不敢离祂太远。当你发觉自己的柜子里空无一物，而你所需的一切都在神那里时，你就会常常来到祂面前支取供应。但一个自以为能照顾自己的人会说：“我积蓄丰厚，尽够支用许久。让那些疑惑的人去祷告吧，我的信心稳固；让那些软弱的人去求告神吧，我应付得来。”若一个人竟以为自己不再需要神每时每刻托住的恩典，这是何等可悲的境地。
高估自身良善的力量，不仅会使我们逃避神的帮助，更会使我们变得鲁莽。那些夸耀自己属灵景况的人，往往会把自己置于各类危险的试探，还自吹自擂能驾驭全局。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：利26章，诗33章，
个人灵修：传9章，多1章
APRIL 22, WENDESDAY
PRIDE IN OUR OWN STRENGTH
When you see that your own cupboard is bare and everything you need is in His, you will go often to Him for supplies.
What happened to Peter when he bragged of the strength of his own grace? “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I,” Peter boasted (Mark 14:29). He set himself up to contest a race with the devil, and he fouled before he was even out of the gate. Christ in mercy let Satan trample Peter’s own grace to show him its true nature and to dismount him from the height of his pride.
Pray that He will be as merciful to you if He sees you climbing the ladder of your own spiritual successes. Joab said to David, when he saw him growing proud of the strength of his kingdom, and wanting to take a census, “The Lord add to the number of thy people a hundredfold, but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?” (2 Samuel 24:3). Can a groom be proud when he rides his master’s horse, or a garden boast because the sun shines on it? Should we not say of every dram of goodness, as the young man of his hatchet, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed” (2 Kings 6:5)?
Count on the strength of your own godly attributes, and you will grow lax in your duties for Christ. Knowing you are weak keeps you from wandering too far from Him. When you see that your own cupboard is bare and everything you need is in His, you will go often to Him for supplies. But a soul who thinks he can take care of himself will say, “I have plenty and to spare for a long time. Let the doubting soul pray; my faith is strong. Let the weak go to God for help; I can manage fine on my own.” What a sad state of affairs, to suppose that we no longer need the moment-by-moment sustaining grace of God.
Not only does overestimating the strength of our own goodness make us shun God’s help, but it also makes us foolhardy and venturesome. You who boast about your spirituality are likely to put yourselves in all kinds of dangerous situations, then brag that you can handle them.