5月7日

標　　題：上去得那地為業

經　　節：看哪，耶和華─你的神已將那地擺在你面前，你要照耶和華─你列祖的神所說的上去得那地為業；不要懼怕，也不要驚惶。（申命記一章21節）

基督徒的生活有一個看似矛盾的理論，就是得付出努力，才能得到神的禮物。神帶領以色列人到迦南地，告訴他們祂要把這地「賜給」他們（民數記十三：2）。對以色列人而言，應許之地的禮物聽起來很棒，直到他們理解到，伴隨這份禮物而來的，是與巨人和堅固城邑為敵。他們也許以為進入迦南地之前，神會先為他們消滅那地的居民。對以色列人最理想的情況，是接收一片空曠的土地和房屋，讓他們馬上住進去。

但事情並非如他們所料，神說他們必須爭戰，才能奪取這地。然而，他們不必用自己的力量打仗，神會出面為他們爭戰。神會把城邑的高牆夷為平地，並賜他們策略打敗敵人，給予戰士能力爭戰。以色列人比起他們的敵人占了許多便宜，但是他們還是得爭戰。

要是在信主的那一刻，神賜給我們完全的聖經知識，又讓我們背誦所有的經句，該有多麼好啊！要是神每日灌入我們喜愛禱告的心，以及向人分享信心的勇氣，基督徒的生活就容易多了。可是，神不是這樣帶領我們。祂先賜給我們救恩這免費的禮物，然後要我們恐懼戰兢地「做」得救的工夫（腓立比書二：12下）。你是否灰心沮喪，因為基督徒的生活比你預計的更困難及富有挑戰性？請不要如此想。神給你的禮物是最完美的，藉著這些禮物，你會變得更完全（馬太福音五：48；雅各書一：17）。

Go up and Possess It

Look, the LORD your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 1:21)

One of the paradoxes of the Christian life is that God’s gifts often require labor on our part. God brought the Israelites to the Promised Land and told them He was going to “give” it to them (Num. 13:2). The gift of the Promised Land sounded great to the Israelites until they realized that, with the gift, came battles against giants and fortified cities! Perhaps they assumed God was going to obliterate the inhabitants of the land before they entered. Ideally for the Israelites, they could then have entered a vacant land with houses and cities already built and ready to inhabit.

Instead, God said they would have to fight for it. They would not have to fight in their own strength, however; God would be present to fight for them. God would bring down the walls of cities, give them strategies to defeat their enemies, and empower their warriors to fight. The Israelites would have a divine advantage over anyone they fought, but they would still have to fight.

It would be wonderful if, when we become Christians, God would fill our minds with a complete knowledge of the Bible and with Bible verses already memorized. It would be easy if God would instill in us a delight in spending hours in prayer each day and a fearless desire to share our faith with others. But God doesn’t relate to us that way. Instead, He gives us the free gift of His salvation and then tells us to “work out” our salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12b). Are you discouraged because the Christian life is more difficult and challenging than you expected? Don’t be. God’s gifts to you are perfect because, through them, God makes you perfect as well (Matt. 5:48; James 1:17).