1102 順服或獨立？
你們若愛我，就必遵守我的命令。《約翰福音14:15》
我們的主從不堅持順服，祂非常明確地強調我們應該做什麼，但祂從不強迫我們去做；我們必須出於與祂靈里合一而順服祂。這就是為什麼每當我們的主談到門徒職分時，祂都會以「若 」開頭，意思是「你不需要這樣做，除非你想要做。」「若有人要跟從我，就當舍己… 」（路加福音 9:23）。換句話說，「要做我的門徒，就當放棄自己的權利，交給我。」我們的主不是在談論我們的永恆地位，而是在談論我們今生此時此地對祂的價值。這就是為什麼聽起來祂是如此嚴厲（見路加福音 14:26）。永遠不要將這些話與說話者分開來試圖理解之。
主沒有給我規條，但祂把祂的標準說得非常清楚。如果我與祂的關係是愛的關係，我會毫不猶豫地照祂說的去做。若我猶豫不決，那是因為我另有所愛，我把某個人放在與祂競爭的位置，就是我自己。耶穌基督不會強迫我順服祂，但我必須順服。一旦我順服祂，我就完成了我的屬靈命定。我的個人生活可能充滿了瑣碎小事，是全然無關緊要的。但若我在看似隨機的生活環境中順服耶穌基督，它們就成為我見神面的針孔。然後，當我站着與神面對面，我必發現，通過我的順服，成千上萬的人就蒙祝福。當神的救贖使人類靈魂達到順服的地步時，它總是會產生果效的。若我順服耶穌基督，神的救贖就會通過我流向他人的生命，因為在順服的行為背後，是全能神的實體。
來自章伯斯的智慧
我們可以通過其祂方式了解神的屬性，但我們只能在基督的十字架中了解天父的心。《至善—禰偉大的救贖》
1102 Obedience or Independence?
If you love Me, keep My commandments. —John 14:15
Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ. —The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L