0201 神的呼召
基督差遣我，原不是为施洗，乃是为传福音。《哥林多前书 1:17》
保罗在这里说，神的呼召是传福音。但请记住保罗所说的「福音」是何意，即在我们主耶稣基督里救赎的真实。我们往往倾向于将成圣作为我们传道的目标。保罗以个人经历为例加以说明，但这并非事情的终结；我们奉差遣不是宣扬救赎或成圣，而是高举耶稣基督（见约翰福音12:32）。我们说耶稣基督救赎的劳苦是要使我成为圣徒，这是不公正的；耶稣基督救赎的劳苦，是要救赎整个世界，并将其完美地复原在神的宝座前，但我们能够经历救赎的事实，说明了救赎真实的力量，而这种经历只是救赎的副产品，而并不是救赎的目标。如果神是人，祂对我们不断地为我们的救赎和成圣提出要求，会感到何等厌恶和厌倦。我们从早到晚为我们自己或为我们想要解脱的事祈求，我们使祂精力背负重担啊！当我们最终触及神福音真实的根基时，我们就再也不会因为小小个人抱怨而打扰祂了。
保罗一生中唯一的热情就是传扬神的福音。他欢然接受心碎、幻灭和苦难，只有一个原因，就是这些事情使他在委身神的福音中坚定不移。
来自章伯斯的智慧
基督徒生活中的许多痛苦并不是因为魔鬼与我们交锋，而是因为我们从未理解我们本性的简单法则。我们必须把身体视为基督耶稣的仆人：当身体说「坐下」，而祂说「去」，那就去！当身体说「吃」，而祂说「禁食」，那就禁食！当身体说「休息」，而祂说「祷告」，那就祷告！《圣经伦理》
0201 The call of God
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. —1 Corinthians 1:17
Paul states here that the call of God is to preach the gospel. But remember what Paul means by “the gospel,” namely, the reality of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are inclined to make sanctification the goal of our preaching. Paul refers to personal experiences only by way of illustration, never as the end of the matter. We are not commissioned to preach salvation or sanctification— we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (see John 12:32). It is an injustice to say that Jesus Christ labored in redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God. The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption. If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.
The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the gospel of God. He welcomed heartbreak, disillusionment, and tribulation for only one reason— these things kept him unmovable in his devotion to the gospel of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Much of the misery in our Christian life comes not because the devil tackles us, but because we have never understood the simple laws of our make-up. We have to treat the body as the servant of Jesus Christ: when the body says “Sit,” and He says “Go,” go! When the body says “Eat,” and He says “Fast,” fast! When the body says “Yawn,” and He says “Pray,” pray! —Biblical Ethics, 107 R