June 16, 2017
A brother shared about this conversation with his son in one of the meetings, showing us what we need on the road to spiritual pursuit:
Dad: Son, can you tell me about the book you just read?
Son: …… (no response, because he didn’t want to give a summary)
Dad: How come you don’t want to?
Son: Because I already understood the story I just finished reading.
Dad: But I just wanted you to tell me a little bit about it.
This short conversation seems quite ordinary, but after some consideration, we can see it shows a blind spot in our spiritual pursuit. The dad here obviously wanted his young son to improve in his reading comprehension and his oral skills, and that’s why he asked him to give him a short summary. But the son didn’t understand the good intentions behind his dad’s request. He thought, if I already understood the story, why do I need to give you a summary? In our life with the Lord and our spiritual pursuit, we very easily fall into similar problems, causing us not to be able to move forward in some spiritual practices. Even worse, it could cause us to fall back or give up. For example, some may ask, I’ve read the Bible for so many years, why should I read it out loud? If I already do the Sweet Daily Living prayers, why should I set up anchor points?
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” (Phil. 3:12)
For certain things, we need to press on and give some extra effort in order to attain it. When we try something new, we have to give a little extra effort and time to learn, adjust and understand. After practicing for some time, we might lose the interest to continue, or we might drop it. Here is the real test—if you want to improve, you need to stably continue doing it, understand the essence of it more deeply, and think of ways to help yourself practice it in your daily life. In the road to spiritual pursuit, there’s no “once and for all”; instead, time will fade your passion and motivation. Only when you pursue diligently will you see a breakthrough and real change.
要用多些力才能進步
June 16, 2017
一位弟兄在聚會中分享了他和兒子的一段對話，提出了我們在追求上的需要。
爸爸：兒子，可以把你剛才看過的這故事給爸爸講一片嗎？
兒子：。。。。。。（沒有回應，因爲不想講。）
爸爸：為什麼不想啊？
兒子：因為我已經把故事看完了，而且明白了。
爸爸：但是，我想你講一片給我聽喔。
這短短的一段對話，看似很平常，但深思過後就發現這指出了一些追求上的盲點。故事中的爸爸當然是想他的兒子在閱讀和表達能力上得到更大的進步和提升，所以要求兒子把故事講出來。但是兒子卻不理解爸爸的一番用心，不明白既然自己已經了解故事的內容，還為什麽要講出來。在我們與主生活和屬靈追求中，也很容易會陷入類似問題，以至在一些操練上停滯不前，甚至最終退後或放棄。例如讀聖經多年了，為何還要把聖經讀出聲呢？已經有日程的禱告了，爲何還要設立定點呢？
[這不是說我已經得着了，已經完全了；我乃是竭力追求，或者可以得着基督耶穌所以得着我的 。]
腓立比書 3:12
所謂的竭力，就是要用多些力。當我們嘗試新事物的時候，都要用上較多的精力和時間去學習、適應及理解新的操作方法。當練習一段日子之後，興趣或會相對減少，繼而不穩定。此時，就是一個操練的關口，要想進步就需穩定地繼續做，加深理解當中含意和想方法幫助自己實行在生活中。原來，在追求操練的路上沒有一勞永逸的事，時間會使熱情變淡，唯有竭力地追求才能有真正的突破和改變。