'Let us go to Judea again.' The disciples said to Him, '. . . are You going there again?' —John 11:7-8
Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.
Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it ” (John 2:5).
豈無誤解？
我們再往猶太去吧。門徒說……你還往那裡去麼？ （約十一7-8）
我可能不明白主耶穌的話，但若如此說他的話有錯，就很危險了。若以為順服神的一句話，會羞辱耶穌，這是絕對錯誤的想法，唯一羞辱主的是不順服他。我用自己的觀點來維護他的榮耀，代替了聽從他明確的命令，必然是錯的；即使動機的確是想避免叫主受辱。從神來的意思，可從那安靜而持續的感動認出來。但當我要反复思考，權衡得失時，隨之而來時疑慮爭辯，我就是把不屬於神的東西帶了進來。於是便知道，這意思是不對的。我們多半忠於自己對耶穌的概念，甚少忠於他自己。（試問我們中間有多少人是忠於他的？）忠於耶穌就是聽命開步，不憑眼見（太十四29），忠於我自己對耶穌的概念，就是在理智上鋪了路。信心不是理智的了悟，信心是在未見之先，立志委身於他。
你是否反復自辯，要靠耶穌走信心之路呢？還是你自己應付？用歡喜快樂的心，無所顧忌地順服他吧。當他這樣對你說，而你卻心裡反复思量，這是因為你對他的榮譽有所顧慮，而其實你所認為的榮譽，並非主的榮譽。你到底是忠於耶穌？還是忠於你對神的概念？你是忠於他所說的話？還是拿那不出於他的觀點來折衷妥協？ [他告訴你們什麼，你們就作什麼。]
祈禱◆噢，主啊，我何等需要靠近你。當你進入我的生命，我何需顫抖？
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