7月26日 立定美好根基
立定美好根基
真正爱基督的灵魂，必以圣洁为乐，并倾尽全力去追求。
你必须先成为圣洁的人，才能活出圣洁的生命。一艘船若未按图纸建造，就绝不能平稳航行；同样，倘若你的心未经圣灵的大能重新塑造，未按“新造的人”（林后5:17）的法则被更新，你就永远不可能有圣洁的行事为人。正如内心这器皿里的恩典，时刻供应着信仰告白这盏明灯，而它在生活中所发出的光芒，便是圣洁！这种彻头彻尾的心意更新，需要借着以下两个问题来省察。
罪曾一度在你眼中显得无比美好，犹如夏娃将禁果递给亚当时那样。除非你的心意被改变，否则罪总会让你觉得甘甜。虽有环境的拦阻，使你不至将内里对罪的隐秘渴望发泄出来，但你的心仍会不断地贪恋它。宛若一对被亲友强行拆散的恋人，只要情意尚浓，终有一方会挣脱牢笼，私奔相聚。同样，私欲也会一次又一次地将你引诱回去，除非你深觉己罪，甚至恨罪之深，一如你往昔爱罪之切。
你是否以活在基督里为满足？当基督以祂的慈绳爱索将你的心紧紧系于对祂的服侍上时，你就无须惧怕自己会轻易退后。一个人若本就不喜爱天国的事工，魔鬼要引诱他离弃这工简直易如反掌。一个以求知为乐、品尝到学问甘甜的学生，在一周内所学到的，远胜于一个仅为讨好老师而勉强听课的学生在一个月里的收获。人总会对真正令自己满足的事物殷勤竭力。譬如，一个人的心若倾注于自己的园子，那园子必会被打理得如诗如画。因着心中的热忱，他甘愿耗费数小时辛劳耕作，只为栽培那些令他赏心悦目、珍稀而娇嫩的花朵。
因此，真正爱基督的灵魂，必以圣洁为乐，并倾尽全力去追求。只要能在圣洁上更进一步，他甚至毫不在乎自己在世间其他一切的竞逐中落于人后。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：士9章，徒13章，
个人灵修：耶22章，可8章
JULY 26, SUNDAY
LAY A GOOD FOUNDATION
The soul that really loves Christ, then, delights in holiness and spends all his strength on it.
You must be holy before you can live a holy life. If a ship has not been constructed right it will never sail properly; and if your heart has not been molded again by the Spirit’s workmanship and fashioned according to the law of the “new creature,” you will never have a holy walk (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is grace in the vessel of the heart which feeds profession in the lamp—holiness in the life! This thorough change of heart needs to be examined through two questions.
There was a time when sin looked as good to you as it did to Adam when Eve offered him the forbidden fruit. And unless you change your mind it will always seem pleasant. Circumstances might keep you from expressing that secret longing for sin, but inwardly your heart will be continually hankering after it. When two lovers are kept apart by their friends one will eventually break loose and escape to the other, as long as their affection stays strong. Thus lust will lure you back again and again unless you are convicted to hate it as much as you once loved it.
Are you content to live in Christ? There is no reason to fear degeneration after Christ has tied you to His service by the heartstrings of love. The devil finds it easy to separate a person from kingdom work when the person never really liked doing it anyway. A student learns more in a week when he is pleased with the sweet taste of learning then he will in a month when he attends a class merely to please his teacher. A man is diligent about the thing that satisfies him. If a person’s heart is turned to his garden, for instance, it will become a beautiful place. Out of his excitement he spends hours of hard work growing rare, delicate flowers that please him.
The soul that really loves Christ, then, delights in holiness and spends all his strength on it. If only this man can be more holy, he does not mind if he is behind in every other race.