0818 你可曾满怀忧伤而无语？
他听见这话，就甚忧愁，因为他很富足。《路加福音 18:23》
这位有钱的少年官满怀忧伤地离开了耶稣，无言以对。他耶稣所说的话及其含义毫不怀疑，但这话语在他心中引发了无法用言语表达的悲伤。你曾否有过这样的经历？神的话语是否曾经临到你，指出你生命中的某个领域，要你降服于祂？也许祂已经指出了某些个人品质、欲望和兴趣，或可能是与你内心和思想上有关的。如果是这样，那么你常常无言以对，满怀忧伤。主不会追着你，祂也不会求你。但每次祂在祂所指出的地方与你相遇时，祂只会重复祂的话，说：「如果你真的说到做到，这些就是条件。」
「要变卖你一切所有的…」（路加福音 18:22）。换句话说，在神面前丢弃自己一切可能被视为财产的东西，直到你只是一个站在祂面前有意识的人，然后把那些交给神。那才是真正的争战所在——在神面前，你的意志领域内。你是否更专注于你认为耶稣想要什么而不是耶稣本人？如果是这样，你可能会听到祂一些严厉而不妥协的话语，这会让你感到悲伤。耶稣的话很艰难——只有那些有祂性情的人才能轻松听到。小心不要让任何事物软化耶稣基督的严厉话语。
我可以在自己的贫穷，或者在意识到自己是无名小卒的事实中，如此富有，以至于我永远不会成为耶稣的门徒。或我可以在意识到我是个重要人物，如此富有，以至我永远不会成为门徒。我是否愿意在意识到自己的一无所有和贫穷中，依然一无所有和贫穷？如果不，那就是我沮丧的原因。沮丧是自爱的幻灭，而自爱可能爱我对耶稣的委身，而不是对耶稣祂本人的爱。
来自章伯斯的智慧
「人子来的时候，遇得见世上有信德么？」我们对良好的原则、良好的管理、良好的常识都有信心，但我们当中谁对耶稣基督有信心呢？身体上的勇气是伟大的，道德上的勇气更伟大，但是在面对生活中巨大问题时信靠耶稣基督的人，抵得上一群英雄。《至善》
0818 Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?
When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. —Luke 18:23
The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, “If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.”
“Sell all that you have…” (Luke 18:22). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.
I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.—The Highest Good, 544 R