Dec 21

(转繁)

十二月二十一日

“To him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon because he hath wholly followed the Lord”       (Deut.1:36) 

        Every hard duty that lies in your path, that you would rather not do, that it will cost you pain and struggle or sore effort to do, has a blessing in it. Not to do it, at whatever cost, is to miss the blessing.

        Every hard piece of road on which you see the Master’s shoe-prints and along which He bids you follow Him, surely leads to blessing, which you cannot get if you cannot go over the steep, thorny path.

        Every point of battle to which you come, where you must draw your sword and fight the enemy, has a possible victory which will prove a rich blessing to your life. Every heavy load that you are called to lift hides in itself some strange secret of strength. ━J. R. Miller

“I cannot do it alone;

The waves run fast and high,

And the fogs close all around,

The light goes out in the sky;

But I know that we two

Shall win in the end,

Jesus and I.”

“Coward and wayward and weak,

I change with the changing sky;

Today so eager and bright,

Tomorrow too weak to try;

But He never gives in,

So we two shall win,

Jesus and I.”

“I could not guide it myself,

My boat on life’s wild sea;

There’s One who sits by my side,

Who pulls and steers with me.

And I know that we two,

Shall safe enter port,

Jesus and I.”

「我要将他所踏过的地赐给他……因为他专心跟从我。」               （申一:36）

信徒啊，在你所走的道路上，你是不是常遇见困难的事、不愿意的事、痛苦的事呢？在每一件这样的事里面，都藏着一个极大的祝福。你如果不肯出任何代价去做的话，你就会失去顶宝贵的祝福。

每一条有主足迹的道路，无论如何艰险，你必须跟着去行，因为那是带领你进入祝福的；如果你不能走那样险阻的荆棘道路，你就不要想得到祝福。

路上每一个战争，你都有获胜的可能；这样的胜利，对于你的灵命是极大的祝福。每一个要你负荷的重担，其中都隐藏着神的能力。━密勒

「我不能单独航行,

波浪如此暴戾,

四周浓雾重重,

天空一片昏暗；

但我知道我们俩人,

耶稣和我终会胜利。」

「懦弱、胆怯、犹豫不定,

我心随着莫测的天空在摇曳；

今天这样热心和高兴,

明天却衰弱得毫无勇气；

但祂从不掘服退缩,

耶稣和我终会胜利。」

「我自己不会驾驶我的船,

渡过这人生的大海,

有一位坐在我身边,

同我一起掌舵和划浆。

我知道我们俩人,

耶稣和我将安全进港。」

Dec 22

“Lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him”  (Gen.15:12)

         The sun at last went down, and the swift, eastern night cast its heavy veil over the scene. Worn out with the mental conflict, the watchings, and the exertions of the day, Abraham fell into a deep sleep, and in that sleep is soul was oppressed with a dense and dreadful darkness, such as almost stifled him, and lay like a nightmare upon his heart. Do you understand something of the horror of that darkness? When some terrible sorrow which seems so hard to reconcile with perfect love, crushes down upon the soul, wringing from it all its peaceful rest in the pitifulness of God, and launching it on a sea unlit by a ray of hope; when unkindness, and cruelty maltreat the trusting heart, till it begins to doubt whether there be a God overhead who can see and still permit━these know something of the "horror of great darkness." It is thus that human life is made up; brightness and gloom; shadow and sun; long tracks of cloud, succeeded by brilliant glints of light, and amid all Divine justice is working out its own schemes, affecting others equally with the individual soul which seems the subject of special discipline. O ye who are filled with the horror of great darkness because of God’s dealings with mankind, learn to trust that infallible wisdom, which is co-assessor with immutable justice; and know that He who passed through the horror of the darkness of Calvary, with the cry of forsakenness, is ready to bear you company through the valley of the shadow of death till you see the sun shining upon its further side. Let us, by our Forerunner, send forward our anchor, Hope, within the veil that parts us from the unseen; where it will grapple in ground and will not yield, but hold until the day dawns, and we follow it into the haven guaranteed to us by God’s immutable counsel. ━F. B. Meyer

        The disciples thought that that angry sea separated them from Jesus. Nay, some of them thought worse than that; they thought that the trouble that had come upon them was a sign that Jesus had forgotten all about them, and did not care for them. Oh, dear friend, that is when troubles have a sting, when the devil whispers, “God has forgotten you; God has forsaken you”; when your unbelieving heart cries as Gideon cried, “If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?” The evil has come upon you to bring the Lord nearer to you. The evil has not come upon you to separate you from Jesus, but to make you cling to Him more faithfully, more tenaciously, more simply. ━F. S. Webster, M.A.

       Never should we so abandon ourselves to God as when He seems to have abandoned us. Let us enjoy light and consolation when it is His pleasure to give it to us, but let us not attach ourselves to His gifts, but to Himself; and when He plunges us into the night of pure faith, let us still press on through the agonizing darkness.━Selected

Oh, for faith that brings the triumph

When defeat seems strangely near!

oh, for faith that brings the triumph

Into victory's ringing cheer一

Faith triumphant; knowing not defeat or fear.

━Herbert Booth

十二月二十二日

 「忽然有惊人的大黑暗落在他身上。」

（创十五：12）

   太阳西沉，夜自东方迅速展开，给大地遮上了一层黑暗的业障。亚伯拉罕经过整天的内心争斗和努力，全神贯注的守候之后；已疲倦不堪，沉沉入睡了。就在那睡眠之中，他的灵魂被浓厚而可怖的黑暗所压迫，几乎使他窒息，像梦魇在他的心上。你认识这种黑暗惊人程度吗？有时漆黑一团的悲哀，似乎与神的爱绝不调和，压着你的灵魂，把神怜悯之心所给你的一切安息都挤压净尽，投入看不见一丝希望的海里；残酷和不仁，嘲笑着那信靠的心，直到它发生怀疑：到底天上有没有看见这一切的神？他是否允许这惊人的大黑暗？人生的构成，就是交错着光明与黑暗。阴影和太阳，层层乌云之后，紧跟着灿烂的光辉，在神的一切义行之中，都有其预定的计划，它的影响遍及于某些仿佛受有特殊教训的个别灵魂，也及于其他的灵魂啊，你们看到了那种惊人的黑暗，因为这是神为人类所作的安排，应当学会信靠那绝无错误的智慧，这和永恒之义是一体的两面；你要知道那位大声喊道：“我的神，我的神，为甚么离弃我”（太27：46）经过各各他可怖黑暗的主耶稣，他一直准备着要陪你行过死荫的幽谷，直到你们看见太阳在那一边照耀。愿我们凭着我们的先驱者，把我们的希望之锚，抛向前去，投入遮掩未来的阴暗中，安稳坚定，抓住不放，直到天光破晓，我们跟着它安全进港，这有神确定的指示给我们作过保证。━梅尔

门徒以为那汹涌的海水，把他们和耶稣隔离了。不但如此，有几位还作更坏的想法，以为所遭遇的患难，象征着耶稣已把他们整个忘怀，不再关心他们了。哦，亲爱的朋友，这种时候，正是患难长了毒刺，正是魔鬼对你耳语：“神已经忘记你了；神已经弃绝你了”。也就是你不信神的心，像基甸那样喊道：“耶和华若与我们同在，我们何至遭遇这一切事呢？”其实，你之遭遇患难，目的祇是使你更亲近主。患难不是来隔离你和主，而是来使你更加忠贞，不屈不挠，一心一意地依附他。

　　唯有当我们觉得似乎神已弃绝了我们的时候，我们才把自己完全交托给神。愿我们来享受神乐意赐给我们的亮光和安慰，但愿我们所依恋的，不是他的恩赐，乃是他的自己，而当他把我们投入纯粹的信心之夜时，我们仍要在痛苦的黑暗中努力前进。━选

信心带来了胜利,

就在即将失败之际!

信心带来了胜利,

震起凯旋的欢呼━

得胜的信心,不知失败或忧惧。

                          ━布芙

Dec 23

   “The journey is too great for thee”              (1 King 19:7)

      And what did God do with His tired servant? Gave him something good to eat, and put him to sleep. Elijah had done splendid work, and had run alongside of the chariot in his excitement, and it had been too much for his physical strength, and the reaction had come on, and he was depressed. The physical needed to be cared for. What many people want is sleep, and the physical ailment attended to. There are grand men and women who get where Elijah was━under the juniper tree! and it comes very soothingly to such to hear the words of the Master: “The journey is too great for thee, and I am going to refresh you.” Let us not confound physical weariness with spiritual weakness. ━Selected

“I’m too tired to trust and too tired to pray,

Said one, as the over-taxed strength gave way.

The one conscious thought by my mind possessed,

Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest.”

“Will God forgive me, do you suppose,

If I go right to sleep as a baby goes,

Without an asking if I may,

Without ever trying to trust and pray?”

“Will God forgive you? why think, dear heart,

When language to you was an unknown art,

Did a mother deny you needed rest,

Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast?”

“Did she let you want when you could not ask?

Did she set her child an unequal task?

Or did she cradle you in her arms,

And then guard your slumber against alarms?”

“Ah, how quick was her mother love to see,

The unconscious yearnings of infancy.

When you‘ve grown too tired to trust and pray,

When over-wrought nature has quite given way:

“Then just drop it all, and give up to rest,

As you used to do on a mother's breast,

He knows all about it-the dear Lord knows,

So just go to sleep as a baby goes;”

“Without even asking if you may,

God knows when His child is too tired to pray.

He judges not solely by uttered prayer,

He knows when the yearnings of love are there.”

“He knows you do pray, He know you do trust,

And He knows, too, the limits of poor weak dust,

Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ,

For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,”

“When He bade them sleep and take their rest,

While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed—

You’ve given your life up to Him to keep,

Then don’t be afraid to go right to sleep.”

十二月二十三日

「你当走的路甚远。」 （王上十九：7）

　 神怎样对待他疲乏的仆人？给他好东西吃，给他甜蜜睡眠。以利亚曾行了奇妙的神迹，曾奔在亚哈的车子前头，所以他的身体非常疲惫；疲惫的反应就是受压。在这里我们看见：身体的保重是必需的。今天许多神的仆人所缺乏的都是睡眠和调养。有许多属灵的伟人都像以利亚一般━在罗腾树下求死！啊，听哪，这声调何等甘甜：“你当走的路甚远，起来吃吧！”━选 

「有人在操劳过度后说道:

我已倦得无力信靠和祷告,

我心中存着一个有意识的念头,

啊!我能不能丢开一切而安睡!」

「你是否想神会不会原谅我,

假如我就像婴孩似的睡眠,

不问一声可不可以让我这样做,

根本不去试试信靠和祷告?」

「神会不会原谅你?你必这样想,

在你还不会讲话的幼年,

母亲难道不给你所需的休息,

或者拒绝你靠着她怀中安眠!」

「你不会发问时,她会让你缺乏吗?

她曾否叫孩子做不能胜任的事情?

她岂不曾把你抱在臂弯里,

守护着安睡,不受震惊?」

「母爱是多么的敏锐,

她洞察婴儿不自觉的愿望。

当你倦得无力信靠和祷告,

当你身体操劳过度而疲乏。」

「你就把一切丢开,安心休息,

像从前那样,靠在母亲怀中,

祂知道你,亲爱的主知道一切,

你祇管像婴孩似的睡觉。」

「你无需去问可以不可以,

祂知道祂孩子疲倦无力祷告。

祂不仅凭有声的祷告来判断,

何处有爱的渴望,祂都知道。」

「祂也知道能力微弱的肉身,

对于和祂在午夜相会的选民,

基督俱有多么奇妙的同情。」

「当祂唤他们去睡觉去休息,

其时全世界的罪恶都由祂承挑,

你已把你的生命交给祂保护,

祇管去睡觉,用不着心焦。」

Dec 24

“And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields at eventide”

(Gen. 24:63)

       We should be better Christians if we were more alone; we should do more if we attempted less, and spent more time in retirement, and quiet waiting upon God. The world is too much with us; we are afflicted with the idea that we are doing nothing unless we are fussily running to and fro; we do not believe in “the calm retreat, the silent shade.” As a people, we are of a very practical turn of mind; “we believe,” as someone has said, “in having all our irons in the fire, and consider the time not spent between the anvil and the fire as lost, or much the same as lost.” Yet no time is more profitably spent than that which is set apart for quiet musing, for talking with God, for looking up to Heaven. We cannot have too many of these open spaces in life, hours in which the soul is left accessible to any sweet thought or influence it may please God to send.

        “Reverie,” it has been said, “is the Sunday of the mind.” Let us often in these days give our mind a “Sunday,” in which it will do no manner of work but simply lie still, and look upward, and spread itself out before the Lord like Gideon’s fleece, to be soaked and moistened with the dews of Heaven. Let there be intervals when we shall do nothing, think nothing, plan nothing, but just lay ourselves on the green lap of nature and “rest awhile.”

        Time so spent is not lost time. The fisherman cannot be said to be losing time when he is mending his nets, nor the mower when he takes a few minutes to sharpen his scythe at the top of the ridge. City men cannot do better than follow the example of Isaac, and, as often as they can, get away from the fret and fever of life into fields. Wearied with the heat and din, the noise and bustle, communion with nature is very grateful; it will have a calming, healing influence. A walk through the fields, a saunter by the seashore or across the daisy-sprinkled meadows, will purge your life from sordidness, and make the heart beat with new joy and hope.━Selected

         “The little cares that fretted me, I lost them yesterday, Out in the field with God.” 

Christmas Eve

BELLS ACROSS THE SNOW

0 Christmas, merry Christmas,

Is it really come again,

With its memories and greetings,

With its joy and with its pain!

There’s a minor in the carol

And a shadow in the light,

And a spray of cypress twining

With the holly wreath tonight.

And the hush is never broken,

By laughter light and low,

As we listen in the starlight,

To the “bells across the snow.”

0 Christmas, merry Christmas,

'Tis not so very long

Since other voices blended

With the carol and the song!

If we could but hear them singing,

As they are singing now,

If we could but see the radiance,

Of the crown on each dear brow,

There would be no sigh to smother,

No hidden tear to flow,

As we listen in the starlight,

To the “bells across the snow.”

0 Christmas, merry Christmas,

This never more can be;

We cannot bring again the days

Of our unshadowed glee,

But Christmas, happy Christmas,

Sweet herald of good will,

With holy songs of glory

Brings holy gladness still.

For peace and hope may brighten,

And patient love may glow,

As we listen in the starlight,

To the “bells across the snow.”

━Frances Ridley Havergal

十二月二十四日

「天将晚，以撒出来在田间默想。」

（创廿四：63）

   我们若有更多单独的时间，就必有更多属灵的长进；我们若少尝试，多退修，就必有更大工作的果效。我们常以为不做事是懒惰、是羞耻，所以我们顶喜欢跑来跑去瞎忙。其实，默想的时候，与神谈话的时间，举目望天的时间，是对我们最有益的时间。这种时间从不会“太多”的。

   或说：默想是心灵的休息，让我们常常给心灵以休息的机会，那时任何有形的工作都要暂停止，祇是静静地躺下，仰望着星宿，好像基甸的羊群那样，在神面前展开身体，接受天降的甘露，我们亦要有间歇的时间，不工作，不计算，躺在大自然的怀抱里，好好的安息。

   这种时间绝对不是虚耗。渔夫坐下补网，你能不能说他虚耗时间呢？割草者坐下磨刀，你能不能说他虚耗时间呢？我们应该常学以撒的样，从热闷的生活中出来，到田间去默想。我们所过的是热闹的生活、喧噪的生活、忙录的生活，能常与大自然接触的话，的确是一件非常痛快的事情。田间散步，海边闲游，能使我们心中充满新的喜乐和盼望。━选

 “昨天我失去了那些使我苦恼的忧虑和不安，……其时，我和神同在田野之间”。

 圣诞前夕之歌

静听雪地钟声

啊,圣诞,快乐圣诞,

果然再度来临,

带着它的记念和祝福,

带着它的苦痛和欢欣!

歌声中有低沉的音节,

亮光里也有一些暗冥,

今夜,有表示神圣的花园,

  交织着一枝枝松柏青青。

祇是笑声那末低微,

打不破寂然的沉静,

我们在星光下听聆,

「雪地里传来的钟声。」

啊,圣诞,快乐圣诞,

离开现在并不太久,

其时还有别的声息,

于颂赞中交响而奏!

祇要能听到他们的歌唱,

正像此刻的音节铿锵,

祇要能看到他们的额上,

闪耀着冠冕的光芒,

就不会有窒息的哀叹,

也不会有眼泪的暗洒,

我们在星光下听聆,

「雪地里传来的钟声。」

啊,圣诞,快乐圣诞,

佳节不常,良辰不再；

已经过去的欢愉日子,

我们无法唤它重复回来,

但一年一度的快乐圣诞,

预告着甜美的福音,

随着光荣的圣歌,

依旧带来了天上的欢欣。

坚贞的爱会洋溢人间,

和平与希望会放出光明,

我们在星光下听聆,

「雪地里传来的钟声。」

                         ━海弗格尔  

Dec 25

“His name shall be called Emmanuel…God with us.”

 (Matt. 1:23)

 “The Prince of Peace”                                          (Isa. 9:6)

“There’s a song in the air!

There’s a star in the sky!

There’s a mother’s deep prayer,

And a baby’s low cry!

And the star rains its fire,

While the beautiful sing,

For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King.”

A few years ago a striking Christmas card was published, with the title, “If Christ had not come.” It was founded upon our Saviour’s words, “If I had not come.” (Jn.15:22) The card represented a clergyman falling into a short sleep in his study on Christmas morning and dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come.

        In his dream he found himself looking through his home, but there were no little stockings in the chimney corner, no Christmas bells or wreaths of holly, and no Christ to comfort, gladden and save. He walked out on the public street, but there was no church with its spire pointing to Heaven. He came back and sat down in his library, but every book about the Saviour had disappeared.

        A ring at the door-bell, and a messenger asked him to visit a poor dying mother. He hastened with, the weeping child and as he reached the home he sat down and said, “I have something here that will comfort you.” He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, but it ended at Malachi, and there was no gospel and no promise of hope and salvation, and he could only bow his head and weep with her in bitter despair.

        Two days afterward he stood beside her coffin and conducted the funeral service, but there was no message of consolation, no word of a glorious resurrection, no open Heaven, but only “dust to dust, ashes to ashes,” and one long eternal farewell. He realized at length that “He had not come,” and burst into tears and bitter weeping in his sorrowful dream.

       Suddenly he woke with a start, and a great shout of joy and praise burst from his lips as he heard his choir singing in his church close by:

“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;

Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels,

O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.”

Let us be glad and rejoice today, because “He has come.” And let us remember the annunciation of the angel, “Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

“He comes to make His blessing flow,

Far as the curse is found.”

May our hearts go out to the people in heathen lands who have no blessed Christmas day. “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and SEND PORTIONS TO THEM FOR WHOM NOTHING IS PREPARED.” (Neh. 8:10)

十二月二十五日

「人要称祂的名为以马内利。」（太一：23）

 「祂名称为奇妙，策士，全能的神，永在的父，和平的君。」          （赛九：6）

「空中传来歌声,

天上闪耀着一颗明星!

母亲在虔诚祈祷,

婴儿的啼声嘤嘤!

那颗星洒布光芒,

其时美丽的天使在唱,

伯利恒的马槽里,卧着万王之王。」

数年前，坊间发行过一张异于寻常的圣诞卡片，标题是：“假若基督没来”。它源出于我们救主的一句话：“我若没有来”。（约15：22）卡上描述某个圣诞节早晨，有位牧师在书房里睡了一会儿，梦见耶稣从未到过的一个世界。

他在梦中环顾自己的家室，壁炉角落里没有长袜，没有圣诞铃或冬青花圈，没有基督的安慰，喜悦和救赎。他走到大街，也看不到指向天国的教堂尖阁。他回来坐在书房里，但每一本有关救主的书都不见了。

门铃响了，有个孩子来请他去看望那将断气的可怜母亲。他急忙跟着那啼哭的孩子赶去，到了那里，他坐下来说道：“我这儿有点东西能安慰你”。他打开圣经，想找一句熟悉的诺言，但圣经祇写到玛拉基书，没有福音，没有希望和救世的诺言，他祇能垂着头和她一同在痛苦的绝望中哭泣。

两天后，他站在她棺材旁，主持葬仪，但是找不到安慰亡灵的唁词，没有光荣复活的字句，没有敞开天堂的言语，祇要“尘归于尘，土归于土”，和遥遥无期的永别。他终于明白“祂未曾来到”，于是泪如泉涌，在那悲哀的梦中痛苦起来。

他突然惊醒，听道他的唱班正在教堂里歌唱，于是发出了一声欣喜和赞美的欢呼。

「齐来!宗主信徒,快乐又欢欣,

齐来!一齐来,大家上伯利恒;

齐来朝见祂,新生王已降临,

齐来崇拜我主基督。」

　让我们今天快乐欢欣，因为“祂已来临”。让我们记得天使的通告：“我报给你们的大喜的信息，是关于万民的，因今天在戴维的城里，为你们生了救主，就是基督。”（路2：10-11）

「 祂来使祂的祝福漫溢着,

遭受咒诅的所有地面。」

　愿我们关心那些住在邪教区域的人民，他们没有幸福的圣诞节。“你们去吃肥美的，喝甘甜的，有不能预备的，就分给他。”（尼8：10）

Dec 26

 “Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder”      (Matt. 26:36)

It is a hard thing to be kept in the background at a time of crisis. In the Garden of Gethsemane eight of the eleven disciples were left to do nothing. Jesus went to the front to pray; Peter, James and John went to the middle to watch; the rest sat down in the rear to wait. Methinks that party in the rear must have murmured. They were in the garden, but that was all; they had no share in the cultivation of its flowers. It was a time of crisis, a time of storm and stress; and yet they were not suffered to work.

       You and I have often felt that experience, that disappointment. There has arisen, mayhap a great opportunity for Christian service. Some are sent to the front; some are sent to the middle. But we are made to lie down in the rear. Perhaps sickness has come; perhaps poverty has come; perhaps obloquy has come; in any case we are hindered and we feel sore. We do not see why we should be excluded from a part in the Christian life. It seems like an unjust thing that, seeing we have been allowed to enter the garden, no path should be assigned to us there.

        Be still, my soul, it is not as thou deemest! Thou art not excluded from a part of the Christian life. Thinkest thou that the garden of the Lord has only a place for those who walk and for those who stand! Nay, it has a spot consecrated to those who are compelled to sit.

There are three voices in a verb━active, passive and neuter. So, too, there are three voices in Christ’s verb “to live.” There are the active, watching souls, who go to the front, and struggle till the breaking of the day. There are the passive, watching souls, who stand in the middle, and report to others the progress of the fight. But there are also the neuter souls━those who can neither fight, nor be spectators of the fight, but have simply to lie down.

       When that experience comes to thee, remember, thou are not shunted. Remember it is Christ that says, “Sit ye here.” Thy spot in the garden has also been consecrated. It has a special name. It is not “the place of wrestling,” nor “the place of watching,” but “the place of waiting.” There are lives that come into this world neither to do great work nor to bear great burdens, but simply to be; they are the neuter verbs. They are the flowers of the garden which have had no active mission. They have wreathed no chaplet; they have graced no table; they have escaped the eye of Peter and James and John. But they have gladdened the sight of Jesus. By their mere perfume, by their mere beauty, they have brought Him joy; by the very preservation of their loveliness in the valley they have lifted the Master’s heart. Thou needst not murmur shouldst thou be one of these flowers! ━Selected

十二月二十六日

 「你们坐在这里，等我到那边去祷告。」

（太廿六:36）

   在一个危急的时候，被遗留在后面，是一件非常难堪的事情。在客西马尼园里，十一个门徒里面，有八个被留在后面不做甚么。主耶稣往前面去祷告：彼得、雅各、约翰在中间儆醒，其余的在后面等着。照我想来，在后面的门徒必定会抱怨。他们虽在花园里面却不过祇在花园里面罢了；他们对于花园里面花草的耕种，无分无关。那时正是一个危急的时候，一个紧要的关头；可是，他们又不能擅自妄动。

　　你和我也常有这种经历、这种失望。也许现在正有许多机会给基督徒工作。有的弟兄姐妹已经到前方去了；有的弟兄姐妹已经到中间去了，祇有我们仍留在后方伏着。或者因着疾病；或者因着缺乏；或者因着诽谤；无论因着甚么，我们受到拦阻，心中非常悲痛。我们不明白为甚么我们不能有分于主的工作。这似乎是一件非常不公平的事情━既然允许我们进了花园，又不在花园里分派我们工作。

　　我的魂哪，应当安静，事情并不照你所想的那样悲痛！你并不是无分于主的工作；你想主的花园里祇有走的地方、立的地方么？不，里面来有一个地方，是专为那些不得不坐的人预备的。

一个动字，有三个位格（Voices）━施事格（Active），受事格（Passive），不及物格（Neuter）。为基督活着的“活”字，也有三个位格。施事格━往前方去奋斗。受事格━站在中间报告前方战事的进展。不及物格━既不能打仗，又无能看仗，祇能伏在后方。

　　如果今天你正伏在后方的话，请你记得，对你说：“你坐在这里”的，是主。你所坐的地方并不是“摔跤处”，也不是“儆醒处”，乃是“等候处”。有许多人神把他们放在世上，并不是要他们成功伟大的事业，也不是要他们背负重大的担子，乃是要他们单单活着；他们是不及物动字。他们是没有使命的花。他们用不着包扎花圈，他们用不着点缀食桌。他们虽没有彼得、雅各、约翰看见，他们却已经叫主耶稣喜悦了。他们的香气、他们的美丽，已够叫主喜乐了。亲爱的，如果你正是这一朵花，请你不要抱怨。━选

Dec 27

“His soul entered into iron”                     (Ps. 105:18)