11月2日

標　　題： 照你所知的去行

經　　節： 人若知道行善，卻不去行，這就是他的罪了。（雅各書四章17節）

知道神的旨意卻不去做，絕對不是一件小事。神稱這種行為是罪。我們可以為自己的不順服找藉口，說：「我還沒有預備好」、「等會兒再做」，或說：「我不認為這樣做有何分別」、「我做不到」……。我們常為自己的藉口合理化，或拖延沒有行動。在神眼中，合理化或拖延都是不順服。有時候，我們自己騙自己，以為好的動機等於順服的行動。不，這種想法是錯誤的。當我們與神相遇，祂給我們生命的方向。單單把日期寫在靈修筆記上，或甚至把自己的「決定」告訴朋友及教會，都是不夠的。神對我們的呼召，不是要我們「作決定」，而是要我們順服！決定順服並不等於順服（馬太福音廿一：28∼31）！大聲肯定順服的必要性，並不等於順服（路加福音六：46）。在公開場合決志奉獻，並不等於順服我們的主。就算是自己努力的好成果，也不可能替代順服。

神要掃羅王等候，直到先知撒母耳到來，但掃羅等不及就自己獻祭了。掃羅十分訝異，他發現，看似很敬虔的行動也無法替代神清楚的命令（撒母耳記上十五：22）。就像對掃羅一樣，神期待你完全照著祂向你所說的話順服祂。唯有順服才能夠滿足神對順服的要求！

Have You Done What You Know to Do?

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

It is never a minor thing to know God’s will and not do it. God calls this sin. We can make excuses for our lack of obedience: “I’m just not ready yet” or “I’ll do it later!” or “I don’t think it will make a difference” or “I can’t afford to!” We rationalize, we procrastinatate; yet, in God’s eyes, rationalization and procrastination are nothing more than disobedience. At times we deceive ourselves into thinking that good intentions equal obedient actions. They do not. A good intention without corresponding activity is disobedience. When we encounter God and He gives us a direction, it is not enough to write down the date in our spiritual journal, or even to tell our friends and church of our “decision.” God’s call is not to “make a decision” but to obey! Deciding to obey is not equal to obeying! (Matt. 21:28–31). Loudly affirming the necessity of obedience is not the same as obeying (Luke 6:46). Making commitments, even publicly, is not the same as obeying our Lord. Substituting our own good works is not the same as obeying.

God told King Saul to wait until the prophet Samuel arrived. Instead of waiting, Saul took matters into his own hands and offered a sacrifice. Saul discovered, to his deep dismay, that other acts of supposed piety do not take the place of obeying a clear command from God (1 Sam. 15:22). As with Saul, God expects you to obey everything exactly as He tells you. Only obedience satisfies God’s desire for obedience!