5月23日 信心必须行在实处
信心必须行在实处
“只要照主所分给各人的，和神所召各人的而行。”（林前7:17）
如果信仰对我们的日常生活没有产生实际的果效，它很快就会演变成一种模糊抽象的观念，最终毫无价值。然而，许多人除了空洞的口头称信之外，拿不出任何证据来证明自己是基督徒。他们就像肉桂树，外皮的价值远胜过里面的木质。使徒在写给提多的信中论到这样的人说：“他们说是认识神，行事却和祂相背；本是可憎恶的，是悖逆的，在各样善事上是可废弃的。”（多1:16）
所谓“善事”的真义，在接下来的章节中变得清晰可见（多2:2-8），使徒在那里列举了基督徒应当履行的各样本分。一个自诩为“好基督徒”的人，若是一个好争吵的妻子，或是一个被称为“敬虔”的人却是疏忽职责的父亲——这些都是无法调和的矛盾。一个人若在自己家中行事不端，在教会里也不过是个假冒为善的人。如果你在公开场合中都没有活出基督徒的样式，那么你在密室里也不是基督徒——哪怕你在那里祷告再久。你的信心若在生活的某一处倾覆，就不能在其他方面兴旺。有些自称信主的人，在待人接物的本分上全然失败，却仍维持着敬拜神的宗教外貌；另一些人则在敬拜生活上冷淡软弱，却似乎在社会责任上表现坚定。这两种不一致都会毁坏灵魂。一个站立有序的士兵，会在所有关乎神与关乎人的本分上都尽忠职守。
第三，站立有序意味着我们必须守住神所命定的位置和呼召。以色列人曾受命，各人“要各归自己的纛下…安营”（民2:2）。这表示他们要“按序排列”，如同严整的军队。神不容许祂圣徒的军队中有游手好闲、随意离队的人。“只要照主所分给各人的，和神所召各人的而行。”（林前7:17）
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：民32章，诗77章，
个人灵修：赛24章，约壹2章
MAY 23, SATURDAY
YOUR FAITH MUST BE PRACTICAL
“As the Lord bas called every one, so let him walk” (1 Corinthians 7:17).
Religion which has no practical impact on our daily lives quickly becomes a vague, abstract notion that amounts to nothing. Yet many have nothing more than an empty profession to prove they are Christians. They are like the cinnamon tree whose outer bark is more valuable than all else that remains. The apostle speaks of such people in his letter to Titus: “They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16).
What is meant by “good works” becomes clear in the following chapter (Titus 2:2–8), where the apostle presents the duties which Christians ought to perform. A good Christian but a nagging wife, a godly man but a negligent father—these are contradictions that cannot be reconciled. The man who does not walk uprightly in his own house is nothing more than a hypocrite at church. If you are not a Christian in your shop, you are not a Christian in your closet—even thought you may pray there. If your faith founders in one way, it cannot flourish in any other. Some professing Christians fail in their duties toward their fellow men, while maintaining an outward show of worship to God. Others falter in acts of worship while seeming to be steadfast in their duties to their fellow men. Both inconsistencies are destructive to the soul. The soldier who stands in order is conscientious toward the whole duty that lies on him in regard to both God and man.
Third, to stand in order means we must stay within the bounds of our place and calling. The Israelites were commanded every man “to pitch by his own standard” (Numbers 2:2). This meant they were to be “arranged in order,” as in a military formation. God allows no stragglers in His army of saints. “As the Lord has called every one, so let him walk” (1 Corinthians 7:17).