0707 一切重大價值和卓越之努力皆是艱難的
你們要進窄門…引到永生，那門是窄的，路是小的，找着的人也少。《馬太福音7:13-14》
如果我們要作為耶穌的門徒而生活，我們就必須記住，一切有價值和卓越的努力都是艱難的。基督徒的生活是榮耀的艱難，它的艱難不會讓我們灰心喪氣或屈服，而是激勵我們去克服。我們是否感激耶穌基督奇妙的救恩，到足以為祂的至高而盡我們最大努力的程度——為祂的榮耀而盡心竭力？
神通過耶穌的贖罪，以祂至高無上的恩典來拯救人們，並且「你們立志行事，都是神在你們心裡運行，為要成就他的美意。」（腓立比書2:13）。但我們必須在日常實際生活中「作成」救恩（腓立比書2:12）。如果我們只在祂的救贖基礎上開始去做祂所吩咐的，那麼我們就會發現我們能做到。如果我們失敗了，那是因為我們還沒有實踐神放在我們裡面的救恩，但危機將揭示我們是否一直在付諸實踐。如果我們順服神的靈，並在我們的實體生活中實踐神通過祂的靈放在我們裡面的東西，那麼當危機來臨時，我們會發現我們自己的本性和神的恩典都會扶持我們。
感謝神，祂確實給了我們困難的事去做！祂的救恩是一件喜樂的事，但這也是需要勇敢、膽量和聖潔。它考驗着我們的全部價值。耶穌「使許多兒子得榮耀」（希伯來書 2:10），神不會保護我們不受兒子身份的要求。神的恩典造就了與耶穌基督有着強烈的家庭形象的男人和女人，而不是被嬌生慣養的弱者。在現實生活中，耶穌的門徒要過着有價值和卓越的生活，這需要極大的紀律。我們始終需要努力過着有價值和卓越的生活。
來自章伯斯的智慧
信仰的捍衛者傾向於憤憤不平，直到他們學會在主的光中行走。當你學會在主的光中行走時，憤憤不平和紛爭是不可能的。《聖經心理學》
0707 All Efforts of Worth and Excellence Are Difficult
Enter by the narrow gate…. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life…. —Matthew 7:13-14
If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in— it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory?
God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). But we have to “work out” that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.
Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10), and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. —Biblical Psychology