5月22日 不给魔鬼留地步
不给魔鬼留地步
一个人若在微小的试探上都无力抵挡撒但，怎能指望自己能击退更猛烈的进攻呢？
撒但是一个步步蚕食、不断扩张地盘的仇敌。因此，你必须时刻警醒抵挡。使徒保罗警戒说：“不可含怒到日落，也不可给魔鬼留地步。”（弗4:26-27）。一名被委派驻守城池边界的士兵，必须像君王的贴身侍卫一样忠心耿耿，否则仇敌一旦突破了外围防线，就会趁势，直入这座城的心脏。
如果你在心灵的边界向试探妥协，你就是给了魔鬼一个据点，任由牠在你的灵里制造混乱。例如，当你怒火中烧、不计后果地倾吐苦毒之言时，就在这些不圣洁的话语脱口而出的那一刻，魔鬼便发现闸门已开，随即长驱直入。接着，更多的你从未想过自己会说的话便会如洪水般喷涌而出！牠是一个狡黠的对手，一旦占据地步，绝不会轻易撤退。因此，最稳妥的策略就是不给牠留任何立足之地。如果你在罪恶居住的门前徘徊犹豫，你就给了撒但更多引诱你入内的机会。那时，你已经踏入了牠的领地。
谁能停留在酒馆中与醉酒者为伍，却假装无意参与其中呢？谁能任由眼目被不洁之物玷污，却仍自诩清白呢？谁能侧耳听受当世败坏的教训，却仍自认为信仰纯正呢？这样的人正处于极大的迷惑之中。一个人若在微小的试探上都无力抵挡撒但，怎能指望自己能击退更猛烈的进攻呢？你说自己无法避免被试探的深水围困，却以为自己有能力把头露出水面吗？请深思这句实际的劝勉：在船上防止落水，远比在落水后重新爬回船上要容易得多。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：民31章，诗75-76章，
个人灵修：赛23章，约壹1章
MAY 22, FRIDAY
DON’T GIVE THE DEVIL A FOOTHOLD
If a man is not strong enough to resist Satan in a lesser thing, how can he believe he will be able to repel a greater temptation?
Satan is an encroaching enemy. Therefore, you must resist him constantly. “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath,” warns the apostle; “neither give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26–27). A soldier assigned to guard duty on the outskirts of a city must keep watch as faithfully as the king’s personal bodyguard, or the enemy will break through the outer limits and thereby gain access to the heart of the town.
If you yield to temptation along the perimeter of your heart, you give the devil a foothold from which to create havoc in your inner spirit. For example, you may become angry and thoughtlessly spew out some bitter words. At the very moment this unholy language spills from your mouth, the devil finds the floodgates open and enters. Then come gushing forth such things as you never dreamed of saying! He is a cunning opponent and will not easily relinquish any ground he gains. The safest strategy, then, is to give him no ground at all from which to work. If you so much as hesitate as you walk by the door where sin dwells, you give Satan more time to entice you to enter. Then you are on his territory.
Who will stop by a tavern to enjoy the company drunkards, or frequent places of sin, and yet pretend he does not intend to partake? Who will prostitute his eyes to unchaste objects, and yet remain chaste? Who will lend his ears to any corrupt doctrine of the times, and yet be sound in the faith? Such a person is under a strong delusion. If a man is not strong enough to resist Satan in a lesser thing, how can he believe he will be able to repel a greater temptation? You say you cannot avoid being surrounded by deep waters of temptation, yet you think you have the strength to hold your head above water? Then give careful thought to some practical advice: It is far easier, when in the ship, to keep from falling overboard than, when in the sea, to get safely into the ship again.