4月30日 时刻警醒 Always Be Vigilant

4月30日

时刻警醒

Always Be Vigilant

务要谨守、警醒，因为你们的仇敌魔鬼，如同吼叫的狮子，遍地游行，寻找可吞吃的人。

——彼前 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
—1 Peter 5:8

当在夏威夷住院的时候，我再一次读了那件令人震惊的报道，美国舰队在珍珠港遭遇袭击导致严重破坏。1941年12月7日清晨，日本海军的航空母舰突然袭击美国海军太平洋舰队在夏威夷基地珍珠港。我们现在明白，遭遇袭击是因为没有提高警惕做好防备措施，结果导致军队遭遇严重损失，追究原因是人们的漠不关心。当我们只在乎安逸和享乐而忽略责任、缺乏信心时，就会遭遇阻碍。

当我们应该伸缩肌肉活动的时候，是什么使基督徒无所谓地耸耸肩；当需要担重担，得胜世界，释放被掳之人的时候，是什么使基督徒无动于衷？为什么需要付诸行动的时候，我们会有这么多的忧虑。基督告诉我们在末后的日子，人们将会有冷漠的生活态度。

When I was in the hospital in Hawaii, I read again of the shocking events which led up to the destruction of the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor. On that fateful day of December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked. We know now that that attack was invited by our failure to be always vigilant. The result was the destruction of our fleet-the cause was tragic indifference. When comfort and ease and pleasure are put ahead of duty and conviction, progress is always set back.

What makes us Christians shrug our shoulders when we ought to be flexing our muscles? What makes us apathetic in a day when there are loads to lift, a world to be won, and captives to be set free? Why are so many bored, when the times demand action? Christ told us that in the last days there would be an insipid attitude toward life.

今日祷告

天父，请带走我的冷漠，因它时常蒙蔽我的眼目！

Prayer for the day

Take away the apathy, Father, that so often blinds my vision.