有时我们吃东西只是短暂的享受。一份特别的食物可能好吃，但不一定适合我们的胃。一顿丰盛的午餐有可能让我们整个漫长的下午都昏昏沉沉。我们吃美味的甜点时，可能会感到愉快，但当我们发现衣服变紧时，可能又会后悔。
我们今天的经文描述了类似的情况。使徒约翰被告知要吃一本小书卷。这不是神的先知第一次被要求吃书卷。先知以西结也被这样吩咐过，这里引用了他的话（参结3）。他们嘴里的味道“甜如蜜”。
在这里和圣经的其他地方，都描述了神话语的这种甜蜜。例如，诗人写道：“你的言语，在我上膛何等甘美。在我口中比蜜更甜”（诗 119:103）。没有什么事比认识神更甜蜜，祂藉着耶稣，使万物复兴、更新！这正是我们想要知道和分享的信息。
然而，神的话在我们的肚子里变苦了。就如以西结发现的，和启示录中的审判显明的，许多人会拒绝神提供的恩典。但是，这不会阻止我们分享神的话，因为“神的奥秘[必要]成全”。
愿我们对福音信息有紧迫感和激情。愿神话语的甘甜使得我们与他人分享，哪怕他们选择拒绝。
亲爱的天父，感谢你话语的甘甜。求使我们成为你忠实的信使。奉耶稣的名，阿们。
启示录 10
1我又看见另有一位大力的天使从天降下，披着云彩，头上有虹，脸面像日头，两脚像火柱。
2他手里拿着小书卷，是展开的。他右脚踏海，左脚踏地，
3大声呼喊，好像狮子吼叫。呼喊完了，就有七雷发声。
4七雷发声之后，我正要写出来，就听见从天上有声音说：“七雷所说的你要封上，不可写出来。”
5我所看见的那踏海踏地的天使向天举起右手来，
6指着那创造天和天上之物、地和地上之物、海和海中之物，直活到永永远远的，起誓说：“不再有时日了！
7但在第七位天使吹号发声的时候，神的奥秘就成全了，正如神所传给他仆人众先知的佳音。”
8我先前从天上所听见的那声音又吩咐我说：“你去，把那踏海踏地之天使手中展开的小书卷取过来。”
9我就去到天使那里，对他说：“请你把小书卷给我。”他对我说：“你拿着吃尽了，便叫你肚子发苦，然而在你口中要甜如蜜。”
10我从天使手中把小书卷接过来，吃尽了，在我口中果然甜如蜜；吃了以后，肚子觉得发苦了。
11天使对我说：“你必指着多民、多国、多方、多王再说预言。”
“Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” — Revelation 10:9
Sometimes what we eat is only enjoyable for a short time. A special recipe might taste good, but it may not sit well in our stomach. A heavy luncheon can make us groggy through the long afternoon. We might take pleasure in a scrumptious dessert while we eat it, but we may also regret it when our clothes are a bit tighter.
Our text today describes a similar situation. The apostle John is told to eat a little scroll. This is not the first time one of God’s prophets is commanded to eat a book. The prophet Ezekiel was told to do the same thing, and his account is quoted here (see Ezekiel 3). The taste in their mouths was “as sweet as honey.”
This sweetness describes God’s Word here and elsewhere in Scripture. For example, the psalmist writes, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (Psalm 119:103). Nothing is sweeter than knowing God, who—through Jesus—is working to bring restoration and to make all things new! That is a message we want to know and share.
But the word turns sour in our stomach. As Ezekiel discovered and the judgments in Revelation make clear, many people reject God’s offer of grace. But this does not cause us to stop sharing God’s Word, because “the mystery of God will be accomplished.”
May we have urgency and passion with the gospel message. May the sweetness of God’s Word compel us to share it everywhere with others, even if they choose to reject it.
Dear Father, thank you for the sweetness of your Word. Make us faithful messengers for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
