一月十八日
必另有一……安息，为神的子民存留。（来4:9）
信徒在天上得情形和世上是多么两样呀！他在世上生来就备受劳苦疲倦，但在永生之境，必不知疲惫为何物。当他急切要侍奉主的时候，就发现力不从心，徒有热心而力量不足：他常哀求说：“我的神哪！赐我力量好服侍你。”若是他能积极活跃起来，他很愿多作工；虽然他还不满意，但是那已经足够他的力量所能胜任的，因此他又哀求说：“我不以工作为疲倦，但我却已经疲倦了！”基督徒呀！日中的辛劳是不会长久的，日头不久就平西了；但它还会再出来的，你必看到从来所没有看到过的光明的日子，在那里可以不分昼夜地服侍神，永不感到疲劳。这里的安息是部份的，那里的安息是完全的。基督徒在这里总是喘息不定的，他感到他还没有达到目的地。但在那里，一切都是安息宁静的，他已到达了山顶，升到了神的怀中。你不能再高升了。疲倦不堪的工人啊！你想想你所要得的永远安息吧！你能想像到那是什么样子吗？那是永远的安息，是“存留”给你的。这里的一切快乐都是“必死的”，我满盛美味的杯终必成为废物，我善啼的鸟儿必在死箭之前落地，我最快乐的日子必入于黑夜的阴影，而且我欢乐的洪流必退落成悲哀的低潮；但那里，一切都是永活的，琴是不会锈的，冠冕是永不衰残的，眼睛也不会昏花，声音也不会变哑，心也不会动摇，永远的生命要完全享受无限的欢乐。快乐日！快乐日！当生命吞了死亡的时候，永久的安息日就开始了。
January
18
“There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” –Hebrews 4:9
How different will be the state of the
believer in heaven from what it is here! Here he is born to toil and suffer
weariness, but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never known. Anxious to
serve his Master, he finds his strength unequal to his zeal: his constant cry
is, “Help me to serve Thee, O my God.” If he be thoroughly active, he
will have much labour; not too much for his will, but more than enough for his
power, so that he will cry out, “I am not wearied of the labour, but I am
wearied in it.” Ah! Christian, the hot day of weariness lasts not for
ever; the sun is nearing the horizon; it shall rise again with a brighter day
than thou hast ever seen upon a land where they serve God day and night, and
yet rest from their labours. Here, rest is but partial, there, it is perfect.
Here, the Christian is always unsettled; he feels that he has not yet attained.
There, all are at rest; they have attained the summit of the mountain; they
have ascended to the bosom of their God. Higher they cannot go. Ah, toil-worn
labourer, only think when thou shalt rest for ever! Canst thou conceive it? It
is a rest eternal; a rest that “remaineth.” Here, my best joys bear
“mortal” on their brow; my fair flowers fade; my dainty cups are
drained to dregs; my sweetest birds fall before Death’s arrows; my most
pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the flood-tides of my bliss subside
into ebbs of sorrow; but there, everything is immortal; the harp abides
unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the
heart unwavering, and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite
delight. Happy day! happy! when mortality shall be swallowed up of life, and
the Eternal Sabbath shall begin.
