|
經文:「我父是栽培的人。」（約15:1） 你可知道，許多臨到我們的苦難，都是神所差遣的使者，為了來送禮物給我們的；我們若能明白這個道理，就能得到安慰了。雖然按屬世的眼光來看，苦難似乎是傷害與毀滅我們的；但是按屬靈的眼光來看，苦難卻能產生祝福。 我們需要記得：救恩；這世上最大的祝福；乃是世上最大痛苦的結果。所以每一次我們受到神嚴厲的修剪；雖然刀割得深刻，痛也刺得強烈；但是一想到「我父是栽培的人」，立刻會得到難以形容的安慰。 文生博士 Dr. Vincent 在一個長滿葡萄的花房裡講述他的故事，他說：「我的園丁新來的時候，告訴我說如果不將葡萄藤割光，祇留下藤莖，他就沒有辦法改善葡萄的收成；於是我同意讓他著手；結果相較於前兩年的毫無收成，到了今年竟長得如此豐碩。」 就讓我們用這個故事來解釋基督徒被修剪的過程；修剪，看起來好像是園丁把葡萄藤剪壞又砍光了；但是園丁所顧念的是將來，他知道這樣修剪的結果會使葡萄的生命更豐盛，結實更富饒。 原來許多的祝福，若不付代價，是永遠得不到的。--密勒 J.R.Miller 新譯｜荒漠甘泉讀書會
|
|
◇◇◇
Scripture: "My Father is the husbandman" (John 15:1). It is comforting to think of trouble, in whatever form it may come to, us, as a heavenly messenger, bringing us something from God. In its earthly aspect it may seem hurtful, even destructive; but in its spiritual out-working it yields blessing. Many of the richest blessings which have come down to us from the past are the fruit of sorrow or pain. We should never forget that redemption, the world's greatest blessing, is the fruit of the world's greatest sorrow. In every time of sharp pruning, when the knife is deep and the pain is sore, it is an unspeakable comfort to read, "My Father is the husbandman." Doctor Vincent tells of being in a great hothouse where luscious clusters of grapes were hanging on every side. The owner said, "When my new gardener came, he said he would have nothing to do with these vines unless he could cut them clean down to the stalk; and he did, and we had no grapes for two years, but this is the result." There is rich suggestiveness in this interpretation of the pruning process, as we apply it to the Christian life. Pruning seems to be destroying the vine, the gardener appears to be cutting it all away; but he looks on into the future and knows that the final outcome will be the enrichment of its life and greater abundance of fruit. There are blessings we can never have unless we are ready to pay the price of pain. There is no way to reach them save through suffering. --Dr. Miller. ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman
|