Are You Discouraged or Devoted?

. . . Jesus . . . said to him, ’You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:22-23

Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven’t, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.

Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, “Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.” Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him— He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.

Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.

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你在奉獻上灰心嗎？

你還缺少一件，要變賣你一切所有的……你還要來跟從我。 （路十八22）

[他聽見這話……]你聽過主說嚴厲的話麼？若沒有，可能你從未聽見他的話。我們聽了主說許多話，卻沒有聽見。若是真聽見，他的話會顯得出奇的嚴厲。耶穌似乎並不在乎這人是否照他的話去行。他也沒有設法去挽留他。他只說：[變賣你所有的，來跟從我。 ]我們的主從不乞求、不勸誘，也不籠絡。他只用人從未聽過的嚴厲話，然後就順其自然。

我聽過主說嚴厲的話麼？他直接對我說話時，我是否立意恭聽？我是否直截地聽他向我說話，而不是隨意解說？這個人確實明白耶穌的話，他聽見了，又衡量過，然而這些話叫他心碎。他不是侮慢地離開，乃是憂愁地離開，時頹喪極了。他著滿腔熱誠來見耶穌，耶穌的話卻給他一盆冷水。他的話沒有帶來忠誠的奉獻，相反地卻叫人心碎地灰心失意。耶穌沒有去追他，是任他離去。主知道他的話一發出，人聽見了，總有一天會結出果子。可怕的事實卻是我們當中好些人，不讓主的話在實際生活上結果。一旦我們決志忠於主，我不知道我們會說些什麼。但有一點可以肯定，他絕不會苛責我們。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，為著這些日子以來，你賜給我們的身心健康，我感謝你。噢，主啊，求你繼續賜予我們。我們脫離一切虛假的情緒、感傷和悲哀。願你今天以活力和喜樂來賜福我們各人。