4月13日
标 题： 神的道路非同于你的道路
经 节： 你们要谨慎，恐怕有人用他的理学和虚空的妄言，不照着基督，乃照人间的遗传和世上的小学就把你们掳去。（歌罗西书二章8节）
鼓励基督徒要“现实点”，是个狡猾的试探。也就是，他们以人的方式来做神的工。“要有果效”变成事奉的主要重点。我们看起来好像相信自己可以不择手段，只要能够达到目的就好！不要迷失在世俗的道理之中。我们仔细查考神的话，发现方法有时比结果来得重要。世界想要说服你，只要你能够为神国完成某一事业，其他都无关紧要。举例来说，亚拿尼亚和撒非喇奉献一大笔钱。这本是一件美事，然而，他们却以欺诈的方式奉献。神立即判决他们，不是为了他们做了什么，而是为了他们是怎么做，而审判他们（使徒行传五：1～11）。
撒但想要以同样的方式陷害耶稣。撒但没有质问耶稣工作的价值，牠仅提供了一些“实际”的解决方法，以更有效率、更有经济效益的方式，来达到耶稣的目标。然而，神的方法非同于人们的方法。“效率”是人类的观点，却不是神所重视的。让以色列百姓绕耶利哥城十三圈，再吹号角，然后城墙才倒塌（约书亚记六章），这可是一点也没有效率！选择耶西最小的儿子作下一任的国王，似乎不太有智慧，但神看的是人的内心（撒母耳记上十六：11）。乍看之下，耶稣挑选那十二门徒似乎不合逻辑，然而神借着他们戏剧化地影响了他们的世界。
企图以人的方法做神的工，是没有智慧的。这是长久以来的试探，外表看起来似乎很有道理，却往往与神的目标对立。
God’s Thinking Is Not Man’s Thinking
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit,
according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the
world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
There is a subtle temptation that encourages Christians to be
“practical.” That is, they try to do God’s work in man’s way. “Getting results”
becomes the primary focus. It almost seems that we believe that the end
justifies the means. Don’t be led away by the world’s reasoning. An examination
of God’s Word shows that the means are sometimes even more important than the
results. The world tries to convince you that as long as you can accomplish
something for the kingdom of God, that’s all that matters. For example, Ananias
and Sapphira gave an offering to their church, which was a good thing, but they
did it deceitfully. God judged them immediately, not for what they did, but for
how they did it (Acts 5:1–11).
Satan tried to trap Jesus with this same temptation. Satan did not
question the worthiness of Jesus’ task, but simply offered “practical”
solutions to accomplish Jesus’ goal more quickly and at lesser cost. God’s ways
are not like man’s ways. “Efficiency” from man’s perspective is not prized by
God. It did not seem efficient to have the children of Israel march around
Jericho thirteen times and then blow their trumpets, but it brought the walls
down (Josh. 6). It did not appear wise to select the youngest of Jesse’s sons
to become the next king, but God saw a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 16:11).
At first glance, it does not seem logical for Jesus to have picked the twelve
disciples He did, yet through them God dramatically affected their world.
It is never wise to attempt to do God’s work in man’s way. It is an
age-old temptation that seems to make sense on the surface but often is at
variance with the purposes of God.
