绊脚的石头
面对相似的境况或事件时，人们可以有截然不同的反应的。
我们认识两位有相似经历的年长女士：她们二人的健康状况都大不如前。然而，其中一人时常都是喜乐的，但另一个却总是非常消极；她们都是基督徒，但只有一人能表露出她在基督里的活泼生命。她们如此不同的观点，启发了我去恳求神保守我，不会被幼稚的愤世嫉俗观念绊倒和落在这些陷阱里。
在新译本信息（The Message）中，Eugene Peterson把彼得前书 2:8意译为：“他们失脚绊倒，因为他们不肯顺从，这本是意料中事。”其后的经文又说，我们是被拣选成为“为神作工和传扬祂的器皿，向别人见证祂如何大大改变了你 — 从一文不值到宝贵，从被拒绝到被接受。”
有时我们会遇到一些担心神没有拣选他们成为祂灵宫一部分的人，他们害怕他们得不到救恩，这种想法真令人心痛。然而，彼得劝喻众人要在神里面长进，好叫他们能够健康成长、完全确信神的良善和慈爱。我们每一个人都得到这个绝妙的邀请，叫我们与基督和祂的旨意有份。我们蒙邀请去接受神的话语，又让基督作我们稳固的根基。
主啊，求祢保护我们不致失脚跌倒，又求祢保守我们，让我们安稳地走在祢丰盛活泼的生命路上。靠赖耶稣祈求，阿们。
彼得前书 2:7-10
7 所以，他在你们信的人就为宝贵；在那不信的人有话说：“匠人所弃的石头，已做了房角的头块石头”，
8 又说：“做了绊脚的石头、跌人的磐石。” 他们既不顺从，就在道理上绊跌；他们这样绊跌也是预定的。
9 唯有你们是被拣选的族类，是有君尊的祭司，是圣洁的国度，是属神的子民，要叫你们宣扬那召你们出黑暗、入奇妙光明者的美德。
10 你们从前算不得子民，现在却做了神的子民；从前未曾蒙怜恤，现在却蒙了怜恤。
A Stumbling Stone
"'A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.' They stumble because they disobey. . . ." - 1 Peter 2:8
Sometimes people can have totally different reactions to similar circumstances or events.
We used to know two elderly women who had similar experiences: both had suffered a significant decline in their health. But one was persistently joyful, while the other was chronically negative. Both were Christians, but only one was vibrant with life in Christ. The contrast between their perspectives has been so instructive to me that I have earnestly pleaded with God to keep me from stumbling and falling into immature cynicism.
In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases 1 Peter 2:8 this way: “They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted.” Later the text says we are chosen to be “God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.”
Sometimes we meet people who worry that they are not chosen to be part of God’s spiritual house. They are afraid that they do not have salvation. This can be heartbreaking. But Peter urges people to grow up in God so that they can flourish and be completely confident of God’s goodness and love. We are all given this wonderful invitation to identify with Christ and his purpose. This invitation is to receive the Word and let Christ be our firm foundation.
Lord, protect us from stumbling and falling; keep us securely on the path to full, vibrant life in you. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
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