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希伯来书:5:11-14:11论到麦基洗德,我们有好些话,并且难以解明,因为你们听不进去。12看你们学习的工夫,本该作师傅,谁知还得有人将神圣言小学的开端另教导你们,并且成了那必须吃奶、不能吃干粮的人!13凡只能吃奶的,都不熟练仁义的道理,因为他是婴孩;14惟独长大成人的,才能吃干粮,他们的心窍习练得通达,就能分辨好歹了。
我曾经听过非常著名的儿童诗歌“耶稣爱我”的模仿恶搞版本。(原来的歌词是这样:耶稣爱我我知道,因有圣经告诉我),恶搞的歌词是这样的:“耶稣爱我我知道,知道这些就够了”,虽然更改歌词这听上去有些亵渎,但恐怕对于许多基督徒来说,这是他们不得不承认的事实。在你们教会会众中间有多少比例的基督徒定期参加成人圣经学习?15%还是20%?有多少比例的会众每天读圣经?我读圣经,但说到圣经知识,我不得不承认有时候感觉自己不过是蜻蜓点水,只是触及了圣经知识的表面。
我知道圣经知识不等同于信心。法律赛人对圣经了解很多,但他们不认识耶稣。与此同时,对圣经的无知也不会带来祝福。这通常意味着你会犯很多错误,或者不能很好地理解福音到底是什么。这二者对我们的信心都有害无益!
《希伯来书》的作者责备了他的读者。当他们应该吃肉的时候,却仍在喝奶瓶里的奶。当他们接受磨炼,在生活中更困难的事情上应用神的话语时,他们却需要复习基本的知识。这些话是针对我们所有人说的。上帝的话语是活泼有力量的,除非我们不加以运用。
祷告:天父,谢谢你今日提醒我学习你的话语是很重要的。请让我远离懒惰以免将你的话语弃置一旁。请赐我勤勉,不仅要阅读你的话语,更要认真查考。最重要的是,让我的信心增长!这样的祷告是奉靠耶稣的名。阿们。
Hebrews 5: 11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
I heard a parody of the famous children’s song, “Jesus Loves Me.” It went like this. Jesus loves me, this I know, and that’s all I really want to know.” I know that sounds blasphemous, but maybe its more true for many Christians than they would like to admit. What percent of Christians in your congregation are involved in adult bible study on a regular basis? Fifteen or twenty? What percent are reading their Bibles every day? I do and I have to admit that sometimes it feels like I am just scratching the surface when it comes to Bible knowledge.
I know that Biblical knowledge doesn’t equal faith. The Pharisees knew a lot about the Bible, but they didn’t know Jesus. At the same time, ignorance in Scripture does not equal bliss. It usually means making lots of mistakes or having a weak understanding of the gospel. Neither are healthy for our faith!
The writer to the Hebrews chides his readers. They are still on the bottle when they should be on a diet of meat. They need to review the basics when they should be trained to apply God’s Word in the more difficult matters of life. These words speak to all of us. God’s Word is powerful and active – unless we don’t use it!
Prayer: Father, thank you for the reminder today that studying your Word is important. Keep me from laziness that makes me set your Word aside. Give me diligence, not only to read it, but to study it carefully. Most importantly, grow my faith! I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.