【双语灵修】生死皆安COMFORT FOR LIFE AND DEATH

罗马书 8:28-32

我们晓得万事都互相效力，叫爱神的人得益处，就是按他旨意被召的人。 因为他预先所知道的人，就预先定下效法他儿子的模样，使他儿子在许多弟兄中做长子； 预先所定下的人又召他们来，所召来的人又称他们为义，所称为义的人又叫他们得荣耀。

既是这样，还有什么说的呢？神若帮助我们，谁能敌挡我们呢？ 神既不爱惜自己的儿子，为我们众人舍了，岂不也把万物和他一同白白地赐给我们吗？

10月1日

生死皆安

岂不知你们的身子就是圣灵的殿吗？这圣灵是从 神而来，住在你们里头的；并且你们不是自己的人， 因为你们是重价买来的。所以，要在你们的身子上荣耀 神。(哥林多前书6:19-20)

我们生活在一个痴迷舒适的世界。全球空调数量预计到2050年将增长两倍。每年止痛药市场消费高达数百亿美元，预计到2032年还将增长50%。无数其他产品提供着我们“离不开”的舒适。然而，作为大学校牧，我几乎每天都会遇到焦虑不堪的人们并为他们祷告！

我们都需要安慰，都有重要需求，尤其是身体、情感和灵性健康方面。但太多时候我们总是在错误的地方寻求慰藉。

归属社群，并获得认同感，是寻找生活慰藉的一种方式，但获得真正安慰的最佳方式，是与神建立合意的关系——祂能赐给我们永恒、丰盛的生命，以及真实持久的安慰。

使徒保罗提醒我们：我们不属于自己，乃是重价买来的——藉着神子耶稣的宝血——祂以自己生命的代价为我们带来新生。既属基督，我们彼此也互为肢体。

这世界提供的安慰有限且短暂。但藉着耶稣归属于神，这一点无论或生或死，都能为我们的身体和灵魂带来真实永恒的安慰。

祷告

神啊，感谢你让我们“或生或死”都不属于自己，而是属于你。阿们。

Romans 8:28-32

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1

COMFORT FOR LIFE AND DEATH

Your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you . . . . You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. —1 Corinthians 6:19-20

We live in a world obsessed with comfort. The number of air conditioning units in the world is expected to triple by 2050. Tens of billions of dollars are spent on pain medication every year, and the market is forecast to increase 50 percent by 2032. Myriads of other products offer comforts we “can’t live without.” And yet nearly every day in my work as a college chaplain I meet and pray with people who are anxious and stressed out!

We all need comfort, and we all have important needs, especially for our physical, emotional, and spiritual health. But too often we look for comfort in the wrong places.

Being part of a community and having a sense of belonging is part of the answer to finding comfort for daily living, but the best way to find comfort is in a right relationship with God, who provides the true and lasting comfort of full life forever.

The apostle Paul reminds us that we do not belong to ourselves but have been bought at a price—through the blood of Jesus, God’s Son—who came to offer us new life through the gift of his own life. Belonging to Jesus, we are connected to each other as well.

This world provides only limited, temporary comforts. But belonging to God through Jesus offers true and lasting comfort for both body and soul, during life and in the face of death.

God, thank you that we are not our own but belong, “in life and in death,” to you. Amen.