1月7日
标 题：因异象而活
经 节：没有异象，民就放肆；惟遵守律法的，便为有福。（箴言廿九章18节）
世人以“远见”行事，神的百姓是藉“异象”而活。世人寻找远大与高贵的目标，运用心思构想最伟大和最令人满足的事情，好投资他们的生命。机关行号订立目标和方针，并整理筹画来达到目标。神百姓的作法却截然不同，基督徒以神的异象来计画人生，不管他们自己是否觉得有道理。神并没有询问我们个人的意见，看看怎样做对我们的未来、家庭、教会或国家最好。祂早已知道！神要祂的百姓留心，并且向我们显明祂的感情和旨意。神的道路并非我们的道路（以赛亚书五十五：8～9）！
一旦人们行事不以神的异象为准则，他们就“放肆”。也就是，他们做自己眼中认为正确的事。他们设立目标、安排行事历、祷告求神祝福，有些基督徒根本没有活在神的旨意中。然而，他们却贸然祷告，想要神祝福他们努力的成果﹗
能够知道神心意的唯一办法是让神向你启示。你永远不可能凭自己查找神的心意。当你听见神的心意，有一件事要立刻去行，就是顺服。如同箴言作者的观察：“惟遵守律法的，便为有福。”
We Live by Revelation
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18)
The world operates on vision. God’s people live by revelation. The world seeks grand and noble purposes and goals to achieve. People dream up the greatest and most satisfying things in which they can invest their lives. Institutions establish goals and objectives and then organize themselves to achieve them. God’s people function in a radically different way. Christians arrange their lives based on the revelation of God, regardless of whether it makes sense to them. God does not ask for our opinion about what is best for our future, our family, our church, or our country. He already knows! What God wants is to get the attention of His people and reveal to us what is on His heart and what is His will, for God’s ways are not our ways! (Isa. 55:8–9).
Whenever people do not base their lives on God’s revelation, they “cast off restraint.” That is, they do what is right in their own eyes. They set their goals, arrange their agendas, and then pray for God’s blessings. Some Christians are living far outside the will of God, yet they have the audacity to pray and ask God to bless their efforts!
The only way for you to know God’s will is for Him to reveal it to you. You will never discover it on your own. When you hear from the Father, you have an immediate agenda for your life: obedience. As the writer of Proverbs observed: “Happy is he who keeps the law.”
