8月7日
标 题：现在！
经 节：又有一个门徒对耶稣说：“主啊，容我先回去埋葬我的父亲。”（马太福音八章21节）
基督徒最大的挣扎，通常不在于作出顺服基督的决定，而在于是否愿意马上顺服。我们可能会承认自己需要跟随基督，及完全委身于神要我们去做的事。然而，当神向我们启示祂的旨意时，就是我们顺服的时刻！神旨意的启示是祂的邀请，需要你立即回应。
有些人自称是基督徒，信誓旦旦要跟随耶稣，但他们却又说自己还没准备好。在耶稣时代，犹太人有责任要奉养年老双亲到他们离世。有一个门徒表示，要等到为父母送终之后，才要跟随耶稣。这似是高尚的延迟，他得在人生重要责任和主的呼召之间选择。神认识这个人，也认识这人的父亲。只要这人跟随耶稣，神会看顾他的父亲。他本来有机会与神子同行，但他对生活的忧虑，超过了自己对神的顺服。
我们顺服的时机，是个重要的关键。由神来的邀请是有回应的限制。如果没有马上领受它，我们会失去一些服事祂的机会。帮助其他信徒的时机稍纵即逝。当神邀请我们为某人代求，我们立即放下手上的工作，调整自己对准神的作为，这是十分重要的。失去事奉主的机会是个悲剧。当你收到神的邀请时，当立即回应。
Now!
Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go
and bury my father.” (Matthew 8:21)
Often our struggle as Christians is not in deciding whether we should
obey Christ but in obeying immediately. We may acknowledge our need to follow
Christ and commit ourselves to do what He has told us. Yet when God reveals His
will to us, that is the time to obey! God’s revelation of His will is His
invitation to respond immediately.
Some would-be disciples pledged their willingness to follow Jesus, but
they told Him they were not ready yet. In Jesus’ day, a Jewish man was expected
to care for his elderly parents until they died. One man wanted to wait until
his father died before going with Jesus. This would be an honorable delay. The
man had to choose between this important responsibility and heeding a call from
the Lord. Yet God knew this man, and He knew the man’s father. God would have
taken care of the man’s father, if he only would have followed Jesus. This was
an opportunity to walk with the Son of God, yet the concerns of this life were
competing for priority with obedience to God.
Timing our obedience is crucial. Invitations from God come with a
limited opportunity to respond. Some opportunities to serve Him, if not
accepted immediately, will be lost. Occasions to minister to others may pass us
by. When God invites us to intercede for someone, it may be critical that we
stop what we are doing and immediately adjust our lives to what God is doing.
Missing opportunities to serve the Lord can be tragic. When an invitation comes
from God, the time to respond is now.
