【双语灵修】生命的粮BREAD OF LIFE
约翰福音 6:26-35, 47-51
耶稣回答说:“我实实在在地告诉你们:你们找我,并不是因见了神迹,乃是因吃饼得饱。不要为那必坏的食物劳力,要为那存到永生的食物劳力,就是人子要赐给你们的,因为人子是父神所印证的。”众人问他说:“我们当行什么,才算做神的工呢?”耶稣回答说:“信神所差来的,这就是做神的工。”他们又说:“你行什么神迹,叫我们看见就信你?你到底做什么事呢?我们的祖宗在旷野吃过吗哪,如经上写着说:‘他从天上赐下粮来给他们吃。’”耶稣说:“我实实在在地告诉你们:那从天上来的粮不是摩西赐给你们的,乃是我父将天上来的真粮赐给你们。因为神的粮就是那从天上降下来赐生命给世界的。”他们说:“主啊,常将这粮赐给我们!”耶稣说:“我就是生命的粮。到我这里来的,必定不饿;信我的,永远不渴。我实实在在地告诉你们:信的人有永生。我就是生命的粮。你们的祖宗在旷野吃过吗哪,还是死了;这是从天上降下来的粮,叫人吃了就不死。我是从天上降下来生命的粮,人若吃这粮,就必永远活着。我所要赐的粮就是我的肉,为世人之生命所赐的。”
10月7日
生命的粮
“耶稣说:‘我就是生命的粮。到我这里来的,必定不饿……’” - 约翰福音 6:35
在大卫·迈尔斯所著的《美国的悖论:富足时代的精神饥渴》一书中,他写道:“我们购买得更多,享受得却更少。食物更丰富了,营养却更少了;房子更华丽了,家庭却更破碎了。我们增加了生命的年岁,却没能为年岁增添生命。”
这时耶稣登场了—祂生在伯利恒(意为“粮食之家”),被放在马槽里(动物的食槽)。(见《路加福音》2:4-7。)耶稣的一生传达了这样一个信息:“你们饥饿,而我就是那粮。我能用我自己满足你们。”
我们是否以耶稣为粮?对于那些备受煎熬、饥渴慕义的灵魂来说,祂就是生命的粮。
1860 年,两位探险家—罗伯特·伯克和威廉·威尔斯—出发横穿澳大利亚。然而,他们在返回途中耗尽了所有补给,试图靠一种叫“澳洲苹”的三叶草状植物维持生命,最终不幸遇难。他们以为澳洲苹能救命,但显然他们没有正确处理这种植物,其中的一种酶导致他们缺乏维生素。他们每天吃下一碗又一碗的澳洲苹,身体却越来越虚弱,越来越消瘦,最终走向死亡。
让我们审视一下我们生活中的“菜单”。我们的工作、简历、社交日程、娱乐选择、手机,甚至服事工作,似乎都能填补某种饥渴,但如果没有耶稣,这一切最终都将归于虚空。《以赛亚书》55章2节问道:“你们为何花钱买那不足为食物的呢?”唯有耶稣,这生命的粮,能满足我们灵魂的饥渴。
祷告
主耶稣,感谢你将你自己作为我们每天所需之生命的粮赐给我们。祈求你充满我们,并帮助我们在一切需要上信靠你。奉你的名求,阿们。
John 6:26-35, 47-51
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7
BREAD OF LIFE
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. . . .” —John 6:35
In a book titled The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty, David Meyers wrote: “We buy more, but enjoy it less. We have more food and less nutrition; fancier houses, but broken homes. We have added years to life, not life to years.”
Enter Jesus, the one who was born in Bethlehem (“house of bread”) and was laid in a manger (a food trough for animals). (See Luke 2:4-7.) Jesus’ life gave this message: “You are hungry. I am bread. I can satisfy you with myself.”
Are we feeding on Jesus? He is the bread of life for gnawing, hungry souls.
In 1860, two explorers—Robert Burke and William Wills— set out to cross Australia. They died on their way back, however, after using up all their supplies and trying to survive on nardoo, a clover-like plant.
They thought nardoo could save them. But apparently they failed to prepare it properly, and an enzyme in it gave them a vitamin deficiency. They ate bowlfuls of nardoo each day, but they grew weaker and thinner and died.
Let’s look at the menu of our lives. Our jobs, resumes, social calendars, entertainment options, phones, and even ministries can seem to fill a hunger, but without Jesus it all ends in emptiness. Isaiah 55:2 asks, “Why spend your money on what is not bread?” Only Jesus, the bread of life, can satisfy the hunger of our souls.
Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us yourself as the bread of life we need every day. Fill us, we pray, and help us to trust you for all our needs. In your name, Amen.