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經文：「你既行了這事，不留下你的兒子，就是你獨生的兒子...我必叫你的子孫多起來，如同天上的星，海邊的沙...因為你聽從了我的話。」（創22:16-18）
從上述經節中我們得知：凡是按著神的要求，將我們心中最寶貴的那件事物獻上的，神不只要將那件事物還給我們，並且要加倍償還。 亞伯拉罕因著神的命令，甘心捨棄他的獨子；那時，他對於孩子的生命和未來的期望全都消失，他高貴的種族，即將自此絕代。但是結果如何？不但孩子歸還給他，他的子孫竟然多如星沙一般；並且到了指定的日期，我們的主耶穌基督也出生在這個家族裡。 這正是神對待祂每一位孩子的方法；當我們為祂捨棄富貴選擇貧窮的時候，祂就給我們富貴。當我們為祂捨棄一個條件優渥的職位時，祂就給我們一個超乎所想更加優渥的職位。 當我們為祂捨棄所有甜蜜的希望，看待自己如同已死，祂就賜給我們更豐盛的生命與更驚奇的快樂。我們越多為神捨己，就越多得到基督；直到就像亞伯拉罕，犧牲直到最寶貴的那一件時，就要看見在基督裡的那完美的生命。--崔倫保 C.G. Trumbull 我們有時好像忘記；神揀選我們是在苦難的爐中揀選的（賽48:10）。我們也會忘記；復活的生命和升天的榮耀，是從客西馬尼、十字架、墳墓而來。 親愛的讀者，不要認為亞伯拉罕的經歷是一件絕無僅有的奇蹟。請聽我說，這正是神對待一切願出代價來順服祂的人的一個範例、一個模型。捨己最大的那一刻，就是祝福最大的那一刻。神對於那些敢於為祂前進迷霧的人，是沒有一樣好處不肯給的。--梅爾 F.B.Meyer 新譯｜荒漠甘泉讀書會
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Scripture: "'Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son...I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven;…because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Gen. 22:16-18). And from that day to this, men have been learning that when, at God's voice, they surrender up to Him the one thing above all else that was dearest to their very hearts, that same thing is returned to them by Him a thousand times over. Abraham gives up his one and only son, at God's call, and with this disappear all his hopes for the boy's life and manhood, and for a noble family bearing his name. But the boy is restored, the family becomes as the stars and sands in number, and out of it, in the fullness of time, appears Jesus Christ. That is just the way God meets every real sacrifice of every child of His. We surrender all and accept poverty; and He sends wealth. We renounce a rich field of service; He sends us a richer one than we had dared to dream of. We give up all our cherished hopes, and die unto self; He sends us the life more abundant, and tingling joy. And the crown of it all is our Jesus Christ. For we can never know the fullness of the life that is in Christ until we have made Abraham's supreme sacrifice. The earthly founder of the family of Christ must commence by losing himself and his only son, just as the Heavenly Founder of that family did. We cannot be members of that family with the full privileges and joys of membership upon any other basis. --C. G. Trumbull We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave. Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham's was a unique and solitary experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God's dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whatever cost. After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme sacrifice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God's river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him. --F. B. Meyer ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman
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