1月17日 今生的事奉

 神既然乐意将他的儿子启示在我心里……（加一15-16）

神的呼召并不是要我们去做某一种工作；我这样的解释也许是由于与神亲密的相交，使我自然领会该为他做什么。呼召是神本性的表达，而事奉则是适合我个性工作的结果。使徒保罗说：“神乐意将他儿子启示在我心里，叫我把他传在外邦人中。”（传就是神圣的表达）这说明了保罗在地上的职务是要传扬神的儿子。

事奉是内里无限热诚的涌流；可是，深入一点说，其实是没有事奉的呼召的；这乃是我对神的体认和回应，以微不足道的行动表现出来。事奉是属于我天然生命的一部分。神与我们建立关系，叫人认出他的呼声，然后就甘心情愿为爱他而有所行动。事奉神，是人听见了神的呼召而专诚献上爱的礼物。事奉是我的一种表达；而神的呼召是他的表达。因此，当我有了他的性情，又听见他的呼召时，两者就同时响应，互相配合。神的儿子启示在我心里，于是我以诚以爱在日常生活中事奉他。

祈祷◆主啊，你的话来的那么静悄悄，却是无处不在——“若有人服侍我，就当跟从我”，和“若有人服侍我，我父必尊重他”。在这种意义上，请接纳我成为你的仆人。

January 17 The Vocation Of The Natural Life

“But when it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me . . .” Galatians 1:15-16

The call of God is not a call to any particular service; my interpretation of it may be because contact with the nature of God has made me realize what I would like to do for Him. The call of God is essentially expressive of His nature; service is the outcome of what is fitted to my nature. The vocation of the natural life is stated by the apostle Paul – “When it pleased God to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him” (i.e., sacramentally express) “among the Gentiles.”

Service is the overflow of superabounding devotion; but, profoundly speaking, there is no call to that, it is my own little actual bit and is the echo of my identification with the nature of God. Service is the natural part of my life. God gets me into a relationship with Himself whereby I understand His call, then I do things out of sheer love for Him on my own account. To serve God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is expressive of that which is fitted to my nature: God's call is expressive of His nature; consequently when I receive His nature and hear His call, the voice of the Divine nature sounds in both and the two work together. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and I serve Him in the ordinary ways of life out of devotion to Him.