七月一日

冬夏都是如此。（亞14：8）

從耶路撒冷流出來的活水江河在炎夏之時不會因烈日而涸幹，在嚴冬之時也不會因寒風而凍結。我的心哪!你當快樂，因爲神存留你，爲是是要你見證他的信實。季候改變，你也改變，但神永遠是一樣的，他的愛河永遠是深廣而又豐富的。爲世事思慮愁煩，因苦難憂心如焚而有了極大的熱度時，我需要神恩典的河水使我清凉下來；我當即刻就到取不盡，用不竭的泉邊暢飲，因爲無分冬夏它都常流不息。上泉永不缺乏，該當贊美神的名，但下泉也永無窮盡；以利亞所喝的基立溪雖然幹了，但耶各華仍是眷顧人的神。

約伯說他的弟兄好似詭詐的溪水，但他却知道他的神是一條安慰的江河。尼羅河是埃及所仰仗的，但它的洪流是有改變的，我們的神却是永遠一樣的。古列王因爲改變了幼發拉底河的河道而攻占了巴比倫城，但人間和陰間的權柄却不能變更神恩的河流。古代江河的河床都乾涸荒廢了，但從神的權能和至愛之山所流出的河流必然常常漲溢到兩岸。一代一代的雖然都過去了，但神恩典的河道是不會改變的；神的河必然永遠涌流不止。我的哪！你得以在這平靜的河流中是多麽有福呀！不要再到其他溪流，免得你的神責備你說：“現今你爲何在埃及的路上，要喝西曷（污泥的意思）的水呢？”

“生命活水永遠長流，生命活水自長流！”

July 1

"In summer and in winter shall it be." -- Zechariah 14:8

The streams of living water which flow from Jerusalem are not dried up by the parching heats of sultry midsummer any more than they were frozen by the cold winds of blustering winter. Rejoice, O my soul, that thou art spared to testify of the faithfulness of the Lord. The seasons change and thou changest, but thy Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of His love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever. The heats of business cares and scorching trials make me need the cooling influences of the river of His grace; I may go at once and drink to the full from the inexhaustible fountain, for in summer and in winter it pours forth its flood. The upper springs are never scanty, and blessed be the name of the Lord, the nether springs cannot fail either. Elijah found Cherith dry up, but Jehovah was still the same God of providence. Job said his brethren were like deceitful brooks, but he found his God an overflowing river of consolation. The Nile is the great confidence of Egypt, but its floods are variable; our Lord is evermore the same. By turning the course of the Euphrates, Cyrus took the city of Babylon, but no power, human or infernal, can divert the current of divine grace. The tracks of ancient rivers have been found all dry and desolate, but the streams which take their rise on the mountains of divine sovereignty and infinite love shall ever be full to the brim. Generations melt away, but the course of grace is unaltered. The river of God may sing with greater truth than the brook in the poem---

"Men may come, and men may go,

But I go on for ever."

How happy art thou, my soul, to be led beside such still waters! never wander to other streams, lest thou hear the Lord's rebuke, "What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink of the muddy river?"