9月2日 神聖的祭

信我的人……從他腹中要流出……（約七38）

耶穌不是說：“信我的人，要領受神豐盛的福分。”他乃是說：“信我的人，要從他裡面流出領受的一切。”主的教訓總是與自我實現相違。他的目的不是要發揮個人，而是要使人完全像他。神兒子的特質就是自我的傾倒。我們若相信耶穌，那麼最重要的不是得著什麼，乃是我們倒出多少。神不是造我們成為顆顆圓潤的葡萄，乃是要把我們的甜汁擠出來。在屬靈的領域裡，生命不能以成功來衡量，而是要看我們倒出什麼，這個也是我們無法估量的。

伯大尼的馬利亞打破玉瓶，倒在耶穌的頭上，沒有人能看出是什麼理由；門徒甚至看為浪費。但耶穌稱讚馬利亞這愛的傾盡，並說凡福音傳到的地方，“也要述說這女人所作的以為紀念”。主若看見我們行馬利亞所行的，不計較經濟得失，完全獻上給他的時候，他的喜樂是無法形容。神傾盡他兒子的生命，為拯救世界，我們能否為他傾盡生命？“信我的人，從他腹中要流出活水的江河來。”－－許多的生命會不斷得著更新。如今是把生命之瓶打破的時候，不要再眷戀追求自我滿足，要把生命傾出去。主正在問誰肯為他這樣傾出？

祈禱◆噢，主啊，在絕對的貧乏中，我投向你。求你在肉身、思想、道德和靈性上臨到我，使我有效地彰顯你、歸榮耀予你。

September 2 The Sacrament Of Sacrifice

“He that believeth in Me . . out of him shall flow. . . .” John 7:38

Jesus did not say – “he that believeth in Me shall realize the blessing of the fulness of God,” but – “he that believeth in Me out of him shall escape everything he receives.” Our Lord's teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all.

When Mary of Bethany broke the box of precious ointment and poured it on Jesus' head, it was an act for which no one else saw any occasion; the disciples said it was a waste. But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said that wherever His gospel was preached “this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” Our Lord is carried beyond Himself with joy when He sees any of us doing what Mary did, not being set on this or that economy, but being abandoned to Him. God spilt the life of His Son that the world might be saved; are we prepared to spill out our lives for Him?

“He that believeth in Me out of him shall flow rivers of living water” – hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. It is time now to break the life, to cease craving for satisfaction, and to spill the thing out. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?