八月二十二日

耶路撒冷的衆女子啊，我囑咐你們，若遇見我的良人，要告訴他，我因思愛成病。（歌5：8）

這是渴慕與主同在的信徒所說的話，他因思愛他的主而成病。蒙恩的人若不多親近基督就不會完全，因爲他們若是離了他，心中就沒有平安。越親近他，便越靠近天堂的平靜安穩；越親近他，心中不單越發滿了平安，而且滿了生命、力量和快樂，因爲這些都是在于常常與耶穌交談。太陽之與白晝，月亮之與黑夜，甘露之與花卉，耶穌基督與我們也是這樣。餅之與饑餓，衣之與赤裸，岩石下的蔭凉之與荒野倦旅的路人，耶穌基督與我們也是這樣。若我們感到與他不在一起，那麽，不怪我們的心靈會說：“耶路撒冷的衆女子啊，我囑咐你們，若遇見我的良人，要告訴他，我因思愛成病。”切心渴慕耶穌是有福的：“饑渴慕義的人有福了！”因此那渴慕這位義者的必蒙大福。饑渴的人有福了！因爲乃來自神；若我的福還沒有飽足，就當倒空器皿，切心尋求直到基督完全滿溢了我。若耶穌還沒有使我飽足，我就當渴慕他，因我還未深入天堂的門內。這種饑渴之心是神聖的，它在主的八福中燦爛放光。但這福是帶著應許的。這種饑渴“必得飽足”。若基督使我們渴慕他，他必會滿足我們渴慕的心；當他來到我們心中的時候，他必定會來到的，那是多麽甜蜜呀！

“我極愛主耶穌，因主先愛我，在十字架替死，赦我衆罪惡，

我愛主，因你爲我戴荊棘冕；若我曾愛救主，如今更親愛。”

August 22

"I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love." -- Song of Solomon 5:8

Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with Jesus, he is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease except they are in a state of nearness to Christ; for when they are away from Him they lose their peace. The nearer to Him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven; the nearer to Him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but of life, and vigour, and joy, for these all depend on constant intercourse with Jesus. What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the hungry, clothing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveller in a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us; and, therefore, if we are not consciously one with Him, little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of the Song, "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell Him that I am sick of love." This earnest longing after Jesus has a blessing attending it: "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness"; and therefore, supremely blessed are they who thirst after the Righteous One. Blessed is that hunger, since it comes from God: if I may not have the full-blown blessedness of being filled, I would seek the same blessedness in its sweet bud-pining in emptiness and eagerness till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on Jesus, it shall be next door to heaven to hunger and thirst after Him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger, since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. But the blessing involves a promise. Such hungry ones "shall be filled" with what they are desiring. If Christ thus causes us to long after Himself, He will certainly satisfy those longings; and when He does come to us, as come He will, oh, how sweet it will be!