0219 採取主動對抗苦役
興起，發光。《以賽亞書60:1》
在採取主動對抗苦差事方面，我們必須好像沒有神那樣採取第一步的行動。等待神來幫助我們是沒有意義的——祂不會的。但一旦我們起來，我們立刻就發現祂就在那裡。每當神給予我們靈感/激勵時，採取主動突然就變成了一個道德議題——一個服服的問題。那麼我們就必須做出順服的事，而不是繼續躺着無所事事。如果我們站起來發光，苦差事就會被神聖地轉變了。
苦役是決定我們品格真實性的最好考驗之一。苦差事是一種與我們所認為的理想工作相去甚遠的工作，這是極其艱苦、卑微、令人厭煩和骯髒的工作。當我們經歷它時，我們的靈命立即受到考驗，我們就會知道我們的靈命是否真實。讀約翰福音13章，在這一章里，我們看見道成肉身的上帝在做苦差事的最佳榜樣——給漁夫洗腳。然後祂對他們說：「我是你們的主，你們的夫子，尚且洗你們的腳，你們也當彼此洗腳。」（約翰福音 13:14）。如果苦役是被上帝的光光照而發光，就需要神的激勵。在某些情況下，一個人完成任務的方式會使這工作分別為聖且永遠聖潔；那可能是一項非常普通的日常任務，但當我們看到它完成後，它就變得不同了。當主通過我們做某事時，祂總是會轉化它。我們的主取了我們的肉身並改變了它，現在每個信徒的身體都成為「聖靈的殿」（哥林多前書6:19）。
來自章伯斯的智慧
對那些沒有經歷過痛苦的人，耶穌說：「我沒有什麼可以給你的；站穩自己的腳，挺起自己的肩膀（挺身而立）。我是為那些知道自己所面對的，遠超出他能應付的，那些知道他無法觸碰某些勢力的人；若他讓我來，我會為他做一切的事。只要讓一個人承認他有需要，我就會為他做。」《痛苦的陰影》。
0219 Taking the Initiative Against Drudgery
Arise, shine… —Isaiah 60:1
When it comes to taking the initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us— He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue— a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed.
Drudgery is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery— washing fishermen’s feet. He then says to them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer’s body has become “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” –The Shadow of an Agony