一月十一日

那些……沒有根（路8:13）

我的心哪！今晨要用這經句的亮光檢查一下。你已經快樂地接受了主的話，並且大受感動；但是，要記清楚，耳中聽受主話是一件事，心中真正接受耶穌又是一件事；有時表面的情感雖很熱烈，而內心卻實在剛硬，叫人受感的話語並不一定能持久。在這一個比喻裡，被撒在磐石上的種子，上面僅有一層薄土；當種子發芽的時候，往下紮根受到硬石的阻擋，於是便傾全力儘量往上發芽，但是因為沒有使它取得水分和養料的根，所以就枯乾了。這是我的情形嗎？我在肉身方面表現得異常茁壯美觀，而內心的生活是否能趕得上呢？要長得好必須同時往上也往下生長才行。我的信心和愛心是否在耶穌身上紮根呢？若是我的心不受恩典的耕耘和培養，好種子雖或發長一時，但終必枯萎，因為在石頭上，在未被耕碎、未被分別為聖的心上是不能發旺生長的。讓我不要作一個長得又好看又迅速而不耐久的約拿的蓖麻；讓我付出代價作跟隨耶穌的人，最要緊的是叫我得到聖靈的力量，那末我心中就有了常存而持久的種子了。若我的心仍像我的本性那樣剛硬，日頭一曬，我的硬心也必幫著發出熱度烤炙著埋藏不深的種子，不久我所信的就消滅了，我必大失所望。因此，天上的撒種者啊！求你先耕耘我，再把你的真理撒下，好讓我為你結出許多子粒來。

January 11

"These have no root." --Luke 8:13

My soul, examine thyself this morning by the light of this text. Thou hast received the word with joy; thy feelings have been stirred and a lively impression has been made; but, remember, that to receive the word in the ear is one thing, and to receive Jesus into thy very soul is quite another; superficial feeling is often joined to inward hardness of heart, and a lively impression of the word is not always a lasting one. In the parable, the seed in one case fell upon ground having a rocky bottom, covered over with a thin layer of earth; when the seed began to take root, its downward growth was hindered by the hard stone and therefore it spent its strength in pushing its green shoot aloft as high as it could, but having no inward moisture derived from root nourishment, it withered away. Is this my case? Have I been making a fair show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner life? Good growth takes place upwards and downwards at the same time. Am I rooted in sincere fidelity and love to Jesus? If my heart remains unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate for a season, but it must ultimately wither, for it cannot flourish on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart. Let me dread a godliness as rapid in growth and as wanting in endurance as Jonah's gourd; let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus, above all let me feel the energy of His Holy Spirit, and then I shall possess an abiding and enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as obdurate as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard heart will help to cast the heat the more terribly upon the ill-covered seed, and my religion will soon die, and my despair will be terrible; therefore, O heavenly Sower, plough me first, and then cast the truth into me, and let me yield Thee a bounteous harvest.