双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：5月12日 选择基督

5月12日

选择基督

“「一个人不能事奉两个主；不是恶这个、爱那个，就是重这个、轻那个。你们不能又事奉神，又事奉玛门。」”

马太福音6:24

你的主是谁？我们必须作出选择。如果我们顺从罪，罪就成为我们的主。耶稣说你们“是罪的奴仆”（罗6:17）。当我们来到基督的面前，圣经说：“罪必不能作你们的主”（罗6:14）。罪不再是主人，基督才是真正的主。

地上有两个世界（这个和那个），一个由魔鬼统治，一个由基督统治。我们必须选择一个。我们身处这个世界，但不应该属于这个世界。我们必须有所不同。我们要被嘲弄、讥讽、取笑。无论在家中、学习、还是工作，我们都要为主站稳立场，愿意背起十字架。我们要让世人知道，我们是属基督的。

我们基督徒的人生方向和别人不同。你看，这个世界大多数人都在往一个方向跑。但我们基督的跟随者却走另一条路，在邪恶的洪流中，我们逆流而上，奔向天堂。所以，基督徒要每日祷告、每日读经。

神给人选择的自由。如果你渴慕神，期待成为新造的人，那就是神在对你的心说话。一旦你回应祂，神就改变你的生命。

当你决志跟随基督，你就要付上代价。这就意味着你整个生命必须改变。你必须悔改，彻底翻转，改变生活方式。这才是归向基督的意义所在。

神要求我们每一个人立刻作出决定。圣经说，“你们心持两意要到几时呢？”（王上18:21）拖延只能让决定更难。优柔寡断也是一种选择。如果你打算以后再说，你就是在回避神。“屡次受责罚，仍然硬着颈项，他必顷刻败坏，无法可治。”（箴29:1）圣经中没有写“明天再说吧。“圣经说：“现在正是悦纳的时候。”（林后6:2）

现在就为基督做出选择吧！在祂里面成长，成为祂的门徒。

今日祷告：

天父，你是我的神，是我的主宰。我选择跟随你。我选择顺服你。感谢您所给予的自由；奉耶稣的名，阿门。

May 12

CHOOSING CHRIST

No man can serve two masters:for either he will hate the one,and love the other;or else he will hold to the one,and despise the other.Matthew 6:24

Who is your master?We have to make a choice.

When sin gives an order and we follow it,sin becomes the master of our lives.We become its slave.Jesus said,“You are slaves of sin”(Romans 6:17).When we come to Christ the Scripture says,“Sin shall not have dominion over you”(Roman 6:14).Sin is no longer the master.Christ is.

Right here on this earth there are two worlds:a world dominated by evil and a world dominated by Christ.We have to choose between them.We have to live in this world,but we are not to be part of it.We have to be willing to be different.We have to be willing to be laughed at,sneered at,made fun of.We have to be willing to go to the Cross and take a stand for Christ where we live,where we work,where we study.Everyone must know that we are of Christ.

Those of us who know Christ march to a different drumbeat.You see,most of the world goes in one direction,but the followers of Christ go the other way,marching to the drumbeat of heaven against the flood of evil.That’s the reason it’s so important for a follower of Jesus Christ to pray daily,to study the Scriptures daily.

God gives people the freedom to choose.If you sense a longing for God,a desire to change and be a new person,that’s God speaking to your heart.And when you respond to Him,God will change you.

When you make that choice for Christ,you pay a price.It means that your whole life must change.You must repent,and repentance means to turn around,to change your way of living.That is what’s involved in coming to Christ.

God demands an immediate decision from each one of us.He says,“How long will you halt between two opinions?”(1 Kings 18:21).Delay makes the right decision harder.Indecision itself is a choice.If you decide that you are going to wait until some other time,that is a choice away from God.The Bible says,“He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck,shall suddenly be destroyed,and that without remedy”(Proverbs 29:1).Nowhere in the Bible does it say,“Tomorrow.”The Bible says,“Now is the accepted time”(2 Corinthians 6:2).Make a choice for Christ now.Grow to maturity in Him,be His disciple.

Pray for the Day:

Father,You are my Lord.You are my Master.I choose to follow You.I choose to submit to You.Thank You for the freedom that that gives;in Jesus’Name,Amen.