12月8日

標　　題：不藐視小事

經　　節：誰藐視這日的事為小呢？（撒迦利亞書四章10節）

世人喜歡看神跡奇事。神早就證明祂可以行神奇非凡之事，但是祂通常選擇使用那些看來很普通、似乎毫不重要的事。藉著這個方式，祂表達祂的愛及祂的大能。

曆世歷代以來，神對重要關鍵時刻的解答，是送來一個嬰兒。以撒、摩西、撒母耳、施洗約翰和耶穌，都是一個有需要的時代之解答。當神把以色列人由米甸人的壓迫中解救出來時，祂故意只使用三百人擊敗人數眾多的敵軍。事實上，祂有更多的士兵可以使用，但祂要以祂自己的大能完成所定的目標。當耶穌甄選第一批門徒的時候，祂大可招募一大堆群眾跟隨祂，但是祂只選了十二名。重要的不是門徒數目的多寡，而是他們與祂同行的品質，才能決定他們如何影響他們的世界。當耶穌行神跡喂飽一大群人，在神的手中，一個孩子的午餐——五個餅和兩條魚——就夠了。

耶穌把神的國度比喻成芥菜種子（馬太福音十三：31—32），芥菜種子是當時猶太人所知最小的種子，但是它會長成一棵極大的樹。祂也把神的國度比喻成酵母，微小不引人注意，卻能使一整個麵團發酵（馬太福音十三：33）。當孩子們來到耶穌面前，祂的門徒以為小孩子是煩人的小東西，要把他們趕走（馬太福音十九：13—15）。但是耶穌說，我們若要進天國，就必須要回轉到孩童的樣式。

基督徒通常接受[愈大愈好]的信念。我們以事工人數的多寡，來衡量成功。我們尋求神跡奇事，來展示神的大能。我們一定要學習以神的眼光來看成功。神看重人的心；祂喜愛順服的人。

Small Things Are Not Despised

For who has despised the day of small things? (Zechariah 4:10)

The world loves the spectacular. God has proven that He is certainly capable of the extraordinary, but He often chooses to work through the ordinary and seemingly insignificant. In this way He demonstrates His love and His power.

Throughout history, God’s answer to a critical time was to send a baby. Isaac, Moses, Samuel, John the Baptist, and Jesus were all born as answers to a time of need. When God delivered the Israelites from the Midianites’ oppression, He intentionally used an army of merely three hundred men to defeat a vastly larger army. He had more soldiers available, but He preferred to demonstrate His power in the way He accomplished His purposes. When Jesus selected His first disciples He could have enlisted a multitude to follow Him, but He chose twelve. It was not the number of disciples but the quality of their walk with Him that would determine how they affected their world. When Jesus fed a multitude, five loaves of bread and two fish from a boy’s lunch were sufficient in the hands of the Lord.

Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed (Matt. 13:31–32). The mustard seed was the smallest seed known to the Jews, yet it grew into an enormous tree. He also likened God’s kingdom to leaven that is hardly noticeable but raises the entire batch of dough (Matt. 13:33). When children came to Jesus, His disciples assumed they were an annoyance and chased them away (Matt. 19:13–15). But Jesus said that in order to enter His kingdom, people must approach God as a child.

Christians often accept the adage “the bigger the better.” We measure success by the number of people involved in our ministry. We seek spectacular displays of God’s power. We must learn to view success as God does. God is interested in the heart; He is pleased with obedience.