0510 採取主動
…有了信心，又要加上德行。《彼得後書1:5》
加上，意味着我們必須做某事。我們有個危險，就是忘記我們不能做神所做的，神也不做我們能做的。我們不能拯救或使自己成聖，那是神做的事。但神不會給我們好的習慣或品格，祂也不會強迫我們在祂面前正確地行事為人；我們必須自己來做這一切，我們必須「做成」神已在我們裡面所做成「我們自己的救恩」（腓立比書2:12）。加上，意味着我們必須養成做事的習慣，在最初階段這是很困難的。採取主動就是製造一個開始——指導你自己走必須走的路。
要當心你明知卻故問道路的傾向。採取主動，停止猶豫，邁出第一步。當神對你說話時，要堅決立即憑靠信心採取行動，且絕不重新考慮或改變你最初的決定。當神告訴你做某事之時，如果你猶豫不決，你就是漫不經心，輕蔑地拒絕你所站立的恩典。你自己要採取主動，現在就做出意志的決定，並使自己無法回頭的。斷絕自己的後路，說「我會寫那封信」，或「我會償還那筆債」；然後就去做！使之不可撤銷。
我們必須養成凡事仔細聆聽神的習慣，養成找出神說什麼並留意聽從的習慣。如果當危機來臨時，我們本能地轉向神，我們就會知道這個習慣已經在我們身上形成了。我們必須在我們所在之地而非尚未到達之地採取主動。
來自章伯斯的智慧
文明是建立在意味着瞬間即永恆的原則之上。唯一永恆的是神，如果我把其他任何東西視為永恆，我就成了無神論者。我必須只建立在神的基礎上（約翰福音14:6）。《至善——禰偉大的救贖》
0510 Take the Initiative
…add to your faith virtue… —2 Peter 1:5
Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves— God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us (Philippians 2:12). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning— to instruct yourself in the way you must go.
Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well. Take the initiative— stop hesitating— take the first step. Be determined to act immediately in faith on what God says to you when He speaks, and never reconsider or change your initial decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do something, you are being careless, spurning the grace in which you stand. Take the initiative yourself, make a decision of your will right now, and make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you, saying, “I will write that letter,” or “I will pay that debt”; and then do it! Make it irrevocable.
We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it. If, when a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God, we will know that the habit has been formed in us. We have to take the initiative where we are, not where we have not yet been.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). –The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L