双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：8 月 21 日 为主而活

8 月 21 日

为主而活

我们没有一个人为自己活，也没有一个人为自己死。我们若活着，是为主而活；若死了，是为主而死；所以我们或活或死，总是主的人。

罗马书 14:7-8

我们大多数人都知道，当一位忠诚的朋友、一位敬虔的牧师、一位忠心的宣教士，或一位圣洁的老姊妹突然离世时，我们会多么震惊。我们会站在敞开的坟墓前泪流满面，茫然地问：“为什么，上帝啊，为什么？”

义人的死绝非偶然。你想，神看顾空中的麻雀，我们的头发都被祂数过；那么，神在危难时难道会弃祂的儿女而不顾吗？！对神的儿女来说，没有意外、没有悲剧、也没有灾难。

保罗的基督徒生涯，大部分时间都处于死亡的边缘。他表现了生命中得胜的信心。他作见证说：“我活着就是基督，我死了也有益处”（腓立比书 1:21）。他坚定不移的信心使他从容地面对困难、逼迫、痛苦、计划受挫和梦想破灭。

但他从不愤世嫉俗地问：“主啊，为什么？”他对救主笃信不疑；尽管有痛苦，但他却从未退缩。

沃尔特·司各特爵士曾经问道：“死是最后的沉睡吗？不！它是最后的觉醒。”

今日祷告：

天父，在我们的生命中，我们为您而活，而不是为自己而活。愿您的名因我们得荣耀。祷告奉耶稣的名，阿们。

August 21

IS IT WRONG TO ASK WHY?

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s Romans 14:7-8

Most of us know what it means to be stunned by the sudden passing of a dedicated friend, a godly pastor, a devout missionary, or a saintly mother. We have stood at the open grave with hot tears running down our cheeks and have asked in utter bewilderment, “Why, O God, why?”

The death of the righteous is no accident. Do you think that the God whose watchful vigil notes the sparrow’s fall and who knows the number of hairs on our heads would turn His back on one of His children in the hour of peril? With Him there are no accidents, no tragedies, and no catastrophes as far as His children are concerned.

Paul, who lived most of his Christian life on the brink of death, expressed triumphant certainty about life. He testified, “To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21, NIV). His strong, unshakable faith took trouble, persecution, pain, thwarted plans, and broken dreams in stride.

He never bristled in questioning cynicism and asked, “Why, Lord?” He knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Savior; and despite the discomfort, he never flinched in the process.

It was Sir Walter Scott who asked, “Is death the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening.”

Pray for the Day:

Father, in our life, we live for You, not for ourselves. Let Your Name be glorified through us, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.