Usefulness or Relationship?

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven —Luke 10:20

Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7:38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).

Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory . . .” (Hebrews 2:10).

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我信服基督麼？

然而不要因鬼服了你們就歡喜，要因你們的名記錄在天上歡喜。 （路十20）

耶穌在這裡其實是說：不要因工作成功而歡喜，要因與我親密的關係而歡喜。信徒事奉的網羅，往往是因成功而歡喜，因得神使用而歡喜。其實你若與他有正確的關係，他要藉你成就的，實難以估量。所以，要保持與他緊密的相連，那末不論環境如何，不管你每天碰見什麼人，他都會透過你傾倒活水，而因著他的憐憫不讓你察覺。藉救贖及成聖你與神連合了，那麼不論你在那裡，都是出於神。若你保守自己在光明中，正如神在光明中一樣，他就會藉著你在環境中的反應，成就他的計劃。

今日的趨勢是把重點放在事奉上。當心有些人把自己的用處，作為身分的根據。若拿用處作考驗的根據，耶穌基督就是地上最大的失敗。聖徒的指標該是神自己，不是用處有多少。算得上有價值的是神透過我們所作的工，而不是我們自己為神作的工。我們的主所關注的，是一個人與父的關係有多深。耶穌正率領許多兒子進到榮耀裡去。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，我因你的說話－－[好像人得了許多擄物]－－而感到歡喜。當我今天向你祈求，願你將你的說話放在我的口中，求你成就，以致凡我口所發出的，都是你的說話。