三月十七日

記念窮人……（加2:10）

為什麼神准這麼多的子民受窮呢？若他喜悅的話，他就可以使他們都富有；他能把袋袋的黃金放在他們的門口，他能使他們每年的收入非常可觀，他也能在他們的四周擺滿了各種食物，正像他使鵪鶉遮滿了以色列人的營一樣，並自天上降下食物餵養它們。他們並沒有受窮得必要，除非神看那樣是最好的。“千山上得牲畜也是他的。”——他能供給他們，他能使巨富、至尊、大能的人為他的子民效勞，把極多的財富帶來放在他們的腳前，因為一切人的心都歸他管轄。但他並不願這樣作；他准他們少衣缺食，他准他們備受饑寒。這是為什麼呢？理由有很多，有一個是：給我們一班大得恩典的人一個機會，好表現出我們對耶穌的愛。我們愛基督的心是藉著歌頌他、禱告他表現出來，但若世上沒有貧困的人，我們就沒有機會藉著周濟弟兄表現我們的愛。他這樣安排，為的是叫我們不只是在言語上愛，也要在行為和真理上證實我們的愛心。若我們真愛基督，我們就會關心他所愛的人；他所寶貴的人，我們也要寶貴。我們不要覺得這是一種義務，我們要把濟助主民中的貧窮人當作一種特權——記住主耶穌的話說：“你們既作在我這弟兄中一個最小的身上，就是作在我身上了。”這個可靠的應許是很甜蜜的，這也足以激起我們要用甘心的手、慈愛的心來幫助別人。——要記住凡我們向他的民所作的，基督都認為是作在他身上。

March 17

"Remember the poor." --Galatians 2:10

Why does God allow so many of His children to be poor? He could make them all rich if He pleased; He could lay bags of gold at their doors; He could send them a large annual income; or He could scatter round their houses abundance of provisions, as once he made the quails lie in heaps round the camp of Israel, and rained bread out of heaven to feed them. There is no necessity that they should be poor, except that He sees it to be best. "The cattle upon a thousand hills are His"--He could supply them; He could make the richest, the greatest, and the mightiest bring all their power and riches to the feet of His children, for the hearts of all men are in His control. But He does not choose to do so; He allows them to suffer want, He allows them to pine in penury and obscurity. Why is this? There are many reasons: one is, to give us, who are favoured with enough, an opportunity of showing our love to Jesus. We show our love to Christ when we sing of Him and when we pray to Him; but if there were no sons of need in the world we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by ministering in alms-giving to His poorer brethren; He has ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not in word only, but in deed and in truth. If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by Him. Those who are dear to Him will be dear to us. Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord's flock--remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Surely this assurance is sweet enough, and this motive strong enough to lead us to help others with a willing hand and a loving heart--recollecting that all we do for His people is graciously accepted by Christ as done to Himself.