Put God First

Jesus did not commit Himself to them . . .for He knew what was in man —John 2:24-25

Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be— absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.

Put God’s Will First. “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:9).

A person’s obedience is to what he sees to be a need— our Lord’s obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, “We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him.” But we must first make sure that God’s “needs” and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, “. . . tarry . . . until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the “needs” of God and His will. Once God’s “needs” in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His “needs” elsewhere.

Put God’s Son First. “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me” (Matthew 18:5).

God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a “Bethlehem.” Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God’s ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.

---

神為首

以信靠神為首。耶穌卻不將自己交託他們，因為他知道萬人。 （約二24-25）

我們的主不信賴人，可是他對任何人都從來不存疑心、不懷苦毒、不失盼望，因為他先依靠神。他完全信得過神為每一個人行事那顆恩慈的心。我若把信心先放在人身上，結果就會失望。我會變得苦毒，因為硬要人做到十全十美，而這卻是沒有人能達致的。所以，除了神的恩典之外，無論對自己、對人，都不可信賴。

以神的需要為首。 [我來了為要照你的旨意行。 ]（來十9）

人的順服，往往是看見某一種需要才有所擺上。但主的順服，乃是遵行他父的旨意。今日的呼聲是[要去工作。外邦人因沒有神而走向死亡，我們要把耶穌傳給他們。 ]可是在作工之先，我們必須先讓神在我們身上得到滿足。 [你們在此等候，直到……]等候的目的，就是要我們好好的連接在神的需要上。當神對我們的需求達到了，他就會開路，使我們知道在別處的需要。

以神所託付的為首。 [凡為我的名，接待一個像這小孩子的，就是接待我。 ]（太十八5）神把自己當作一個嬰孩託付了我，期望我的生命像[伯利恆]。我天然的生命沒有藉著神兒子內住的生命，而變化更新？神終極的目的，是要在我這必死的身上，彰顯他兒子的榮耀。

祈禱◆主啊，我知道你有豐盛的恩典，也一直滿有平安；求你將恩典與平安賜給我。你最清楚知道，我們的屬靈生命是如何倚賴著肉身所感受到的平安。