Daily Devotion - Dec 20 - ¯îºz¥Ì¬u Streams in the Desert

荒漠甘泉 Streams in the Desert

敢於孤獨

經文: 「其實我不是獨自一人，因為有父與我同在。」（約十六32）

我們都知道：要跟從主，是要出重大代價的。也許要我們放棄合法的權利，也許要我們離開至親的愛人，叫我們嘗到非常的剝奪和孤獨。但是我們如果像鷲鷹那樣飛上高天，直穿雲霄，我們就能與上帝同居；雖然地上的生活孤獨一點，也可以叫我們知足了。

鷲鷹是鳥類中最喜歡獨棲的。牠們從不集群而飛；每次我們看見牠們，只能看見一隻，最多兩隻。

一個與上帝同居的人，雖然沒有人的交往，定規有上帝的交往。

上帝在尋找像鷲鷹那樣的人。因為凡不與上帝單獨同行的人，絕不能明白上帝最好。摩西雖然精通埃及人的一切學問，他還須在曠野與上帝單獨親近四十年。保羅雖然精通希臘學問，且曾在迦瑪列門下受教，他還須到亞拉伯去學習去沙漠的生活。所以，信徒阿，任上帝隔離我們罷。不過我並不指寺院式的隔離。隔離能使我們有獨立的信心和生活──使我們不再不斷的依賴別人的幫助、禱告、信心和照顧。別人的幫助和激勵，對於基督人的長進，是絕對必需的，但是到了一個時期，它們會成為個人信心和幸福的直接妨礙。上帝知道甚麼時候我們的環境需要更換，甚麼時候我們需要隔離生活。所以讓我們把一切交給上帝罷，祂必帶領我們過去。

我們敢不敢過孤獨的生活呢？

主獨自踹酒醡。我們預備跟從祂的腳蹤行呢？還是預備叫祂失望呢？──選


Dare to Be Alone

Scripture: "Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me" (John 16:32).

It need not be said that to carry out conviction into action is a costly sacrifice. It may make necessary renunciations and separations which leave one to feel a strange sense both of deprivation and loneliness. But he who will fly, as an eagle does, into the higher levels where cloudless day abides, and live in the sunshine of God, must be content to live a comparatively lonely life.

No bird is so solitary as the eagle. Eagles never fly in flocks; one, or at most two, ever being seen at once. But the life that is lived unto God, however it forfeits human companionships, knows Divine fellowship.

God seeks eagle-men. No man ever comes into a realization of the best things of God, who does not, upon the Godward side of his life, learn to walk alone with God. We find Abraham alone in Horeb upon the heights, but Lot, dwelling in Sodom. Moses, skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt must go forty years into the desert alone with God. Paul, who was filled with Greek learning and had also sat at the feet of Gamaliel, must go into Arabia and learn the desert life with God. Let God isolate us. I do not mean the isolation of a monastery. In this isolating experience He develops an independence of faith and life so that the soul needs no longer the constant help, prayer, faith or attention of his neighbor. Such assistance and inspiration from the other members are necessary and have their place in the Christian's development, but there comes a time when they act as a direct hindrance to the individual's faith and welfare. God knows how to change the circumstances in order to give us an isolating experience. We yield to God and He takes us through something, and when it is over, those about us, who are no less loved than before, are no longer depended upon. We realize that He has wrought some things in us, and that the wings of our souls have learned to beat the upper air.

We must dare to be alone. Jacob must be left alone if the Angel of God is to whisper in his ear the mystic name of Shiloh; Daniel must be left alone if he is to see celestial visions; John must be banished to Patmos if he is deeply to take and firmly to keep "the print of heaven."

He trod the wine-press alone. Are we prepared for a "splendid isolation" rather than fail Him?


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