275 中翻英(25) Am I first of all minister to the Lord? 我是否盡力先服事主? 1/23/2023

275 中翻英(25)  Am I first of all minister to the Lord?  我是否盡力先服事主? 1/23/2023

一月二十三日

「馬大，馬大，你為許多的事思慮煩擾，但不可少的只有一件」（路10:41-42前半）。

坦白說，為主做工也有時是一种肉體的私欲，當群眾擁擠著來听你講道時，實在是興奮的享受。相反的，如果你被迫悶在家里，從早到晚為著世務忙碌，你心里會埋怨說：「哦，這樣的生活真是毫無意義啊！如果我能夠出去事奉主，那是多么偉大呀！但愿我能自由到各處去傳道！」但是，這并不是屬靈，這不過是天然的傾向和嗜好，許多我們所謂的「為主做工」，只不過是為著滿足自己的欲望。可能你天性好活動，呆在家里便如坐針氈，因此，便想到外邊去，到處做神的工，叫自己得到一點發泄。

是的，我們應當盡我們所能的來服事弟兄，也應當勞苦不息的去拯救罪人，但首要的是我們應當捫心自問：「我是否服事主自己！」

"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but you need one thing" (Luke 10:41-42a).

Let us be frank:  work for the Lord has its attractions.  It can thrill you when crowds gather to hear you preach.  If instead you are compelled to stay at home, occupied from morning to night with mundane affairs, you soon begin to think, “How meaningless life is!  How grand to get out and serve the Lord!  If only I were free to go around preaching!”

But that is not spirituality.  It may be no more than a yielding to natural preference.  It is not possible that much of our so---called service for Him is simply the pursuit of our own inclination?  We are so restless we cannot bear to stay at home, so we run around doing God’s work for our own relief.  We may be doing our utmost to serve our brethren, and  we may be laboring to save sinners, but one thing is needful.  Are we first of all minister to the Lord?