0312 完全降服
彼得就对他说：「看哪，我们已经撇下所有的跟从你了。」《马可福音 10:28》
我们的主回应彼得的这句话，说：这种降服是「为我和福音的缘故。」（马可福音10:29），这并不是为了门徒们自己能从中得到什么。要谨防出于个人利益动机的降服，例如，「我要把自己献给神，因为我想从罪中得解脱，因为我想变得圣洁。」从罪中得解脱和成为圣洁是与神和好的结果，但这种思想所产生的降服当然不是基督教真正的本质；我们降服的动机不应该是为了任何个人利益。我们已变得如此以自我中心，以至于我们到神面前只是为了从祂那里得到某些东西，而不是为了神自己；这就像是说：「不，主啊，我不想要袮，我想要我自己。但我确实想要袮洁净我，并以袮的圣灵来充满我。我想要在袮的橱窗中被展示出来，这样我就可以说，『这是神为我所做的』。」得到天堂、从罪中得释放、成为对神有用的人，这些永远都不是真正降服所该考虑的事。真诚完全的降服是个人对耶稣基督自己的个人至上的偏好。
当我们关心我们的自然关系时，耶稣基督在哪里？我们大多数人都会以这个借口离弃祂——「是的，主啊，我听到袮呼召我，但我的家人需要我，我有自己的兴趣。我不能再往前走了。」（见路加福音 9:57-62）。耶稣说：「那么，你们『不能作我的门徒』」（见路加福音 14:26-33）。
真正的降服总是超越自然的委身。只要我们放弃，神就会降服自己，拥抱我们周围的所有人，并满足他们的需要，那些需要是因我们的降服而产生的。在任何没有完全降服于神之处，谨防停下来。我们大多数人对这个真正的含义只有异象，但从未真正经历过。
来自章伯斯的智慧
我们开始我们基督徒的生活是通过相信被告知要相信的事情，然后我们必须继续如此同化我们的信仰，以至于它们以一种回响神荣耀的方式产生结果。危险是在于我们越来越接受我们自己没有活出的信念。《改变像祂的样式》
0312 Total Surrender
Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.” —Mark 10:28
Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (Mark 10:29). It was not for the purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of Christianity. Our motive for surrender should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’” Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.
Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse— “Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ‘cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33).
True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make