Gwen Shaw的部落格

以慈愛和誠實裝飾自己  選自＜智慧的寶石＞一月十八日

金幼竹Bambi Wright/譯

經文禱讀﹕箴言３﹕３－４

『不可使慈愛誠實離開你﹐要繫在你頸項上﹐刻在你心版上。』 

慈愛和誠實是神要祂的孩子擁有的兩樣非常寶貴的特質﹐祂是一位慈愛的父親﹐祂也是真理﹐如果我們是祂的孩子﹐那麼﹐我們就應該像祂﹐有祂的模樣。

耶穌能說他就是真理﹐因為他活出了箴言﹐在他的行為和生活裡﹐沒有一絲瑕疵。

他說﹐他是世界的光（約翰8:12, 9:5）﹐他也說﹐我們也是世界的光（馬太5:14)。

那就是說﹐他要我們像他一樣﹐如果那是不可能的話﹐他就不會這麼說了。

耶穌是慈愛的﹐他對所有的人都充滿了愛。

在箴言裡﹐神說﹕『不要使慈愛誠實離開你﹐要繫在你頸項上﹐刻在你心版上。』

當你忙碌﹑疲勞﹐倦怠和擔憂的時候﹐很容易就會失去慈愛的心。當你身體不舒服的時候﹐你也很容易變得粗魯﹐不替別人著想﹐但是﹐你必須很小心﹐絕對不要錯過那些你可以行善事的機會。

真理和誠實也是很重要的美德﹐事實上﹐這兩項特質是相互關聯的﹐真理和誠實是無法開來的。

有的時候﹐你很容易拉扯一下真裡──好讓它符合你所要造成的『大畫面』(the "big impression")﹐但那是不對的行為。

『誠實』是﹐不管代價有多大﹐你都不改你的正直﹐即使謹守誠實會造成你財務和機會上極大的損失。很多人就是在這種情況下﹐讓他們的誠實溜掉的﹐他們認為誠實的代價太大了。

但是﹐實際上﹐不誠實的代價比誠實的代價要大得太多﹐因為﹐誠實的代價是暫時的﹐不誠實的代價卻是永恆的﹐好好想一想這之間的不同﹗

把慈愛和誠實繫在你的頸脖子上﹐把它們刻在你的心版上﹐好讓你有一顆慈愛和誠實的心。

如果能夠如此﹐你會發現﹐恩寵﹐仁慈﹐恩典和可愛﹐都會成為你個人的特質。你應該戴著這些美質過你現在的年月﹐並到永恆。你會在人與神的眼裡﹐都被看好﹐就像耶穌成長的階段﹐你也會在神和人面前﹐都得到眷顧。(路加5:52)

原文閱讀:

January 18

BE ADORNED WITH THE ORNAMENTS OF MERCY AND GRACE

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 3: 3-4

"Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man."

Mercy and truth are very precious attributes which the Lord wants His children to possess. He is a merciful Father and He is Truth. And if we are His children we should be in His likeness and image.

Jesus could say that He was the truth because He lived according to the Proverbs. There never was a flaw in His conduct or His life.

He said that He was the Light of the World (John 8:12, 9:5). He also said that we are the Light of the World (Matthew 5:14).

That means that He wants us to be like Him. He wouldn't say that we are the Light of the World if it weren't possible.

Jesus was merciful. He was filled with kindness for all.

The Lord says in this Proverb, "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them upon the table of thine heart."

When you are busy, tired, worn-out and worried it is easy to let mercy get away from you. It is so easy to be unkind and inconsiderate when you do not feel well, but you must be careful never to let the opportunity to do a good deed escape you.

Truth and honesty are the other very important virtues. Actually they are related. You cannot separate truth and honesty.

Sometimes it is easy to stretch truth just a little bit -- it fits with the "big impression" you want to make. But that doesn't make it right.

But actually, the cost of dishonesty is greater than the cost of honesty. The cost of honesty is temporal. The cost of dishonesty is eternal. Think about this!

Bind mercy and truth around your neck. Brand them on the table of your heart so that you have a merciful and honest heart.

If you do this you will find that favour, kindness, grace and loveliness will become a part of your character. You shall wear these graces in this life and in the one to one. And you shall have good understanding in the sight of God and man. Like the boy Jesus who grew in favour with God and man, you too shall grow in favour with God and man (Luke 2:52).