一月十八日

必另有一……安息，為神的子民存留。（來4:9）

信徒在天上得情形和世上是多麼兩樣呀！他在世上生來就備受勞苦疲倦，但在永生之境，必不知疲憊為何物。當他急切要侍奉主的時候，就發現力不從心，徒有熱心而力量不足：他常哀求說：“我的神哪！賜我力量好服侍你。”若是他能積極活躍起來，他很願多作工；雖然他還不滿意，但是那已經足夠他的力量所能勝任的，因此他又哀求說：“我不以工作為疲倦，但我卻已經疲倦了！”基督徒呀！日中的辛勞是不會長久的，日頭不久就平西了；但它還會再出來的，你必看到從來所沒有看到過的光明的日子，在那裡可以不分晝夜地服侍神，永不感到疲勞。這裡的安息是部份的，那裡的安息是完全的。基督徒在這裡總是喘息不定的，他感到他還沒有達到目的地。但在那裡，一切都是安息寧靜的，他已到達了山頂，升到了神的懷中。你不能再高升了。疲倦不堪的工人啊！你想想你所要得的永遠安息吧！你能想像到那是什麼樣子嗎？那是永遠的安息，是“存留”給你的。這裡的一切快樂都是“必死的”，我滿盛美味的杯終必成為廢物，我善啼的鳥兒必在死箭之前落地，我最快樂的日子必入於黑夜的陰影，而且我歡樂的洪流必退落成悲哀的低潮；但那裡，一切都是永活的，琴是不會鏽的，冠冕是永不衰殘的，眼睛也不會昏花，聲音也不會變啞，心也不會動搖，永遠的生命要完全享受無限的歡樂。快樂日！快樂日！當生命吞了死亡的時候，永久的安息日就開始了。

January 18

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." --Hebrews 4:9

How different will be the state of the believer in heaven from what it is here! Here he is born to toil and suffer weariness, but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never known. Anxious to serve his Master, he finds his strength unequal to his zeal: his constant cry is, "Help me to serve Thee, O my God." If he be thoroughly active, he will have much labour; not too much for his will, but more than enough for his power, so that he will cry out, "I am not wearied of the labour, but I am wearied in it." Ah! Christian, the hot day of weariness lasts not for ever; the sun is nearing the horizon; it shall rise again with a brighter day than thou hast ever seen upon a land where they serve God day and night, and yet rest from their labours. Here, rest is but partial, there, it is perfect. Here, the Christian is always unsettled; he feels that he has not yet attained. There, all are at rest; they have attained the summit of the mountain; they have ascended to the bosom of their God. Higher they cannot go. Ah, toil-worn labourer, only think when thou shalt rest for ever! Canst thou conceive it? It is a rest eternal; a rest that "remaineth." Here, my best joys bear "mortal" on their brow; my fair flowers fade; my dainty cups are drained to dregs; my sweetest birds fall before Death's arrows; my most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the flood-tides of my bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow; but there, everything is immortal; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering, and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight. Happy day! happy! when mortality shall be swallowed up of life, and the Eternal Sabbath shall begin.