新視域的力量
不要忘記那附註

經文
以賽亞書十一1-9
1從耶西的本(原文是墩)必發一條;從他根生的枝子必結果實。
2耶和華的靈必住在他身上,就是使他有智慧和聰明的靈,謀略和能力的靈,知識和敬畏耶和華的靈。
3他必以敬畏耶和華為樂;行審判不憑眼見,斷是非也不憑耳聞;
4卻要以公義審判貧窮人,以正直判斷世上的謙卑人,以口中的杖擊打世界,以嘴裡的氣殺戮惡人。
5公義必當他的腰帶;信實必當他脅下的帶子。
6豺狼必與綿羊羔同居,豹子與山羊羔同臥;少壯獅子與牛犢並肥畜同群;小孩子要牽引他們。
7牛必與熊同食;牛犢必與小熊同臥;獅子必吃草,與牛一樣。
8吃奶的孩子必玩耍在虺蛇的洞口;斷奶的嬰兒必按手在毒蛇的穴上。
9在我聖山的遍處,這一切都不傷人,不害物;因為認識耶和華的知識要充滿遍地,好像水充滿洋海一般。
信息分享
昨天我們提到嫉妒源自兩個原因:「無知」和「錯誤的比較」。看過了「錯誤的比較」如何形成嫉妒以後,今天我們要集中思想「無知」這一方面的原因。「無知」怎樣形成嫉妒呢?太多時候,我們對別人的判斷是基於我們所看到的,而沒有考慮到他們的生命中其它可能發生的事情。多年前,加德納(AC Gardiner)寫了一篇有關西蒙大法官(Lord Simon)的短文,詳細談論很多關於他成功的事情,其中有一段他描述西蒙大法官是「從一條鋪滿玫瑰的道路昂首闊步地邁向一個光輝的目標」。加德納以為像西蒙大法官這種成功人士的路途上,必定沒有任何傷痛的經歷,但是後來他記起西蒙大法官也曾經面對過一些十分痛苦的失望,於是他在文章內加上一句附註:「我在這裡所指的只不過是他公開的事業。」
我們很多人都忘記了那句附註。我們只看到鄰居生活的表面,對他們隱藏的憂傷一無所知。如果能仔細看到我們所嫉妒的生活層面以下的實況,看到那些隱而未現的傷害、空虛、心痛、罪疚和恐懼,我懷疑我們內心還會不會存有嫉妒的情緒?
無論別人有沒有隱藏的憂傷,我們也沒有理由嫉妒別人。神是所有生命真正的主宰:「我們是他造的,不是自己造的」(詩一零零3)。讓我們只定睛在基督身上,抗拒所有與人比較的試探。要多學習把自己與神比較,這樣的比較才是唯有有益的比較。
「神是所有生命的主宰」
進深研究
林後十1-18;林前二13;詩八十九6
1甚麼是不明智的行為?
2甚麼是比較的正確方法?
祈禱
親愛的主耶穌,我看到嫉妒的靈輕易偷去我的平安和快樂。求您從我心裡將這根嫉妒的野草連根拔起,教導我只將自己與您比較。奉主的名祈求,阿們。
The Power of a New Perspective
Don't forget the parenthesis

Bible reading:
Isaiah 11:1-9
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together; and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra's den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Message
Yesterday we said that envy is born out of two things: ignorance and making wrong comparisons. Having seen how a wrong comparison can produce envy, we focus now on ignorance. How can ignorance give rise to envy? Far too often our judgments of people are based only on what we see, and we fail to take into account other things that may be going on in their lives. Years ago, A.C. Gardiner wrote a little essay on Lord Simon and spoke at length of his many successes. In one place he described him as "prancing down a rose-strewn path to a shining goal". Gardiner thought that success, in the measure Lord Simon had experienced it, was free of all sorrow. Then he remembered some of the bitter disappointments that Lord Simon had faced and so he added in parenthesis: "I speak here only of his public career."
Many of us forget the parenthesis. We see simply the surface of our neighbours' lives and know nothing of their secret sorrows. If we saw beneath the surface of those lives we tend to envy - the hidden hurts, the emptiness, the heartaches, the guilt and the fears - then I doubt whether the emotion of envy would ever rise within us.
But even if there were no secret sorrows we would still have no reason to envy others. God is the rightful Lord of all life: "It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves" (Psa. 100:3, NKJ). Let us keep our eyes fixed only on Christ and resist all other attempts at comparison. Practise comparing yourself with Him, and only good will come out of it.
"God is the rightful Lord of all life"
Prayer
Blessed Lord Jesus, I see how easily the spirit of envy can filch away my peace and happiness. Uproot this rank weed in my heart and teach me to compare myself with none other but You. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.
Further study
2 Corinthians 10:1-18
1 Corinthians 2:13
Psalm 89:6
1. What is it not wise to do?
2. What is the right way to make comparisons?
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