神是可靠的父亲
长大和老去可以是一件困难的事，我们的责任和任务越来越多，可是，我们的想象力却往往慢慢衰退。变得成熟和年纪渐长有很多好处，然而，我相信我们当中很多人都不会介意时光倒流，让我们再次经历儿时某些美好的时光。你还记得简单的东西也能带给我们无比快乐的日子吗？如果你有愉快的童年回忆，我们或许会称那段日子为“旧日的美好时光”。那时，时间似乎过得比较慢，家人聚在一起吃饭似乎吃得久一点，而被电话骚扰的机会也甚少。
既然如此，那么耶稣为甚么鼓励跟随祂的人要“变成小孩子的样式”呢？按基督所说的，人如果希望承受和享受神国的荣耀，就必须像小孩子那样，真心相信他们可靠的父母。我们只需要让神塑造我们的心灵和思想，成为像小孩子那样完全信靠祂，因为他们知道神关心他们，必定会为祂的儿女作最好的安排。意思是说，容让我们已被洁净的想象力，去想象我们这位伟大、了不起和全能的神，祂所能做到的一切事情，祂可以怎样让我们参与祂在这个世界上的事工。
伟大的神，感谢祢提醒我们，有像小孩子的信心，这能引领我们亲近祢。求祢以祢的灵重燃我们的想象力，又叫我们因祢为我们预备的事工深感兴奋。阿们。
马太福音 18:1-5
1当时，门徒进前来，问耶稣说：“天国里谁是最大的？”
2耶稣便叫一个小孩子来，使他站在他们当中，
3说：“我实在告诉你们：你们若不回转，变成小孩子的样式，断不得进天国。
4所以，凡自己谦卑像这小孩子的，他在天国里就是最大的。
5凡使这信我的一个小子跌倒的，倒不如把大磨石拴在这人的颈项上，沉在深海里。”
God, the trustworthy parent
"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 18:3
Growing up and getting older can be difficult to do. Our responsibilities and obligations grow, and often our imaginations slowly fade. There are positives to growing mature and aging, but I believe many of us wouldn't mind taking a step back to relive some of the good times we had when we were children. Can you remember when simple things brought you a lot of joy? We might refer to such times as "good old days" if we had nice childhood memories and time seemed to move slower, family meals seemed to last longer, and interruptions from phones were less common.
But we do have to grow up eventually. If that is the case, though, why would Jesus encourage his followers to "become like little children"? According to Christ, the way in which people inherit and enjoy the glory of God's kingdom is to have the sincere, trusting faith that a child has for a trustworthy parent. And that simply means allowing God to shape our hearts and minds into that of a child who trusts in him fully, knowing that he cares and will always do what is best for his children. It means allowing our sanctified imaginations to wonder about all the things that our big, awesome, and powerful God can do—and how he can involve us in his work in this world.
Great God, thank you for the reminder that having childlike faith draws us close to you. By your Spirit, reignite our imaginations and fill us with excitement about what you have in store for us to do. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
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