傳道書 5:12 勞碌的人不拘吃多吃少，睡得香甜；富足人的豐滿，卻不容他睡覺。
閱讀經文：傳道書 5:8-12
8你若在一省之中見窮人受欺壓，並奪去公義、公平的事，不要因此詫異。因有一位高過居高位的鑒察，在他們以上還有更高的。9況且地的益處歸眾人，就是君王也受田地的供應。
10貪愛銀子的不因得銀子知足，貪愛豐富的也不因得利益知足。這也是虛空。11貨物增添，吃的人也增添，物主得什麼益處呢？不過眼看而已。12勞碌的人不拘吃多吃少，睡得香甜；富足人的豐滿，卻不容他睡覺。
馬丁路得曾經說過：「當一個人信了耶穌後，他一定要有三變：一是心的改變，二是意志的改變，三是『荷包』的改變。」三者之中最難的似乎是「荷包」的改變了！
事實上，金錢的力量真的十分廣大，既可收買人心，也可以控制別人的命運。我的兒子凱頌還在念小學二年級的時候，我和太太決定每個月給他二十元零用錢。怎料，他拿著二十元，一天就花光了，回家後更揚揚得意告訴我們他的經歷。他拿二十元在學校買了雪糕雪條請同學吃，尤其是那些平日沒有與他來往的同學。這一天他頓時成為最受歡迎的人物，每個同學都爭著與他打交道，令他感到十分自豪。
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Mark 8:22-30. Let’s go!
Mark 8:22-26 (NIV)
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t go into the village.”
On verses 22-26: I appreciate Mark’s honesty here. Here we have a case where it took not one but two touches from Jesus for this blind man to be healed. Some might see this as an embarrassing fact for Jesus. I don’t. To me there are some important lessons we can learn from this miracle:
– Sometimes the healing God wants us to experience does not have instantaneously but is a process that takes time.
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Mark 8:14-21. Let’s go!
Mark 8:14-21 (NIV)
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.
15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?
18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied.
20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.”
21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
The disciples were concerned about how they had forgotten to bring bread with them on the boat (v14). So when Jesus says, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod” (v15), the disciples immediately assume that Jesus is talking to them about how they had no bread (v16). But Jesus wasn’t rebuking them for not bringing bread. Jesus was warning them not to be influenced by “the yeast”, that is the unbelief, of the Pharisees and that of Herod.
傳道書 5:8a 你若在一省之中見窮人受欺壓，並奪去公義、公平的事，不要因此詫異。
閱讀經文：傳道書 5:8-9
8你若在一省之中見窮人受欺壓，並奪去公義、公平的事，不要因此詫異。因有一位高過居高位的鑒察，在他們以上還有更高的。9況且地的益處歸眾人，就是君王也受田地的供應。
林肯曾說過這句說話，「民主主義就是民有、民治、民享的政治。」他說：「我不想當奴隸，也不想當主人，這就是我的民主主義了。」格萊思頓也曾說過，「政治的目的只在造成容易偽善、難於作惡的社會。」今天的社會，無論民主或獨裁，我們可以看見許多官民之間不平等的現象，而在所羅門的時代，他同樣看到當時官民之間的不平等。
傳道書五章 8至9節，「你若在一省之中見到窮人受欺壓，並奪去公平、公義的事，不要因此詫異。因有一位高過居高位的鑒察，在他們以上還有更高的。況且地的益處歸眾人，就是君王也受田地的供應。」
傳道書 5:7 多夢和多言，其中多有虛幻，你只要敬畏神。
閱讀經文：傳道書 5:3-7
3事務多就令人做夢，言語多就顯出愚昧。4你向神許願，償還不可遲延，因他不喜悅愚昧人。所以你許的願應當償還，5你許願不還，不如不許。6不可任你的口使肉體犯罪，也不可在祭司面前說是錯許了。為何使神因你的聲音發怒，敗壞你手所做的呢？7多夢和多言，其中多有虛幻，你只要敬畏神。
睡覺是生活中很重要的一環，有好的睡眠，使人在白天有精神；反之，若睡得不安穩，起床後精神萎靡，一天都不開心。失眠是現代人的通病，很多人都有睡不好的問題。這裡所羅門王提到睡眠不安穩的原因之一，是因為工作過度，以至於日有所思，夜有所夢。並且，人的話多了，其中就會產生許多胡言亂語。第3節是個引言，引到第7節：“多夢和多言，其中多有虛幻”。
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Mark 8:1-13. Let’s go!
Mark 8:1-10 (NIV)
1 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.
3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”
On verses 1-10: Like when Jesus fed the five thousand in Mark 6, here we see:
– It was Jesus’ heart of compassion for the people, not the desire to put on a show, that led Jesus to feed the people. Out of the heart the mouth speaks, and out of the heart ministry happens. It all begins with the heart. No wonder Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our heart, for it is the well spring of life.
傳道書 5:1 你到神的殿要謹慎腳步，因為近前聽勝過愚昧人獻祭，他們本不知道所做的是惡。
閱讀經文：傳道書 5:1-2
1你到神的殿要謹慎腳步，因為近前聽勝過愚昧人獻祭，他們本不知道所做的是惡。2你在神面前不可冒失開口，也不可心急發言。因為神在天上，你在地下，所以你的言語要寡少。
在所羅門王的時代，聖殿是非常神聖的地方，只有祭司才能進去。老百姓只能到聖殿的院子裡去獻祭和參與敬拜。祭司要進聖殿服事之前，一要用獻祭潔淨自己，二要用水洗濯潔淨自己，鞋子要留在殿外，和今日回教徒敬拜一樣。亞伯拉罕有兩個兒子，一是大兒子以實瑪利，二是應許之子以撒。以撒也有兩個兒子：以掃和雅各。雅各就是後來以色列十二支派的父親，他們後來成為敬拜耶和華的族裔。以實瑪利和以掃的後代，他們也曾經跟著亞伯拉罕和以撒學習敬拜，後來在傳承中變成伊斯蘭教，也就是回教，因此有許多崇拜的儀式和猶太教非常相似，例如進殿敬拜時脫鞋，還有類似割禮的習俗。
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Mark 7:31-37. Let’s go!
Mark 7:31-35 (NIV)
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.
34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”).
35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
On verses 31-35: At first glance, to us reading these verses today, the steps Jesus took to heal this deaf and mute man might seem strange. But keep in mind that Jesus would often touch people as a part of healing them. He would often look to heaven while praying. He would sigh out of compassion and sometimes frustration. So perhaps it’s just the spitting part that throws us off. One theory is that using saliva was common in ancient healing stories. Another theory is that before speaking the words “Ephphatha!”, Jesus was using actions and sign language to tell this man that Jesus was about to heal him; that way this man would know what Jesus was about to do and have the opportunity to believe that Jesus could do it.
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Mark 7:24-30. Let’s go!
Mark 7:24-30 (NIV)
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.
On verse 24: Jesus goes into Gentile territory, visiting the city of Tyre. Whereas the Pharisees and teachers of the law would be concerned about becoming ceremonially by getting close to Gentiles, Jesus had no such concern. The fact that Mark places this passage right after the passage where Jesus declares all foods clean suggests that just as there was no food that could not be eaten, so people of all cultures are loved by God and God does not discriminate based on culture or race.
Perhaps because Jesus had taught and healed people from Tyre before (see Mark 3:8-10), Jesus could not keep his presence in Tyre secret.
傳道書4:13 貧窮而有智慧的少年人，勝過年老不肯納諫的愚昧王。
閱讀經文：傳道書 4:13-16
13貧窮而有智慧的少年人，勝過年老不肯納諫的愚昧王。14這人是從監牢中出來做王，在他國中，生來原是貧窮的。15我見日光之下一切行動的活人都隨從那第二位，就是起來代替老王的少年人。16他所治理的眾人，就是他的百姓，多得無數，在他後來的人尚且不喜悅他。這真是虛空，也是捕風。
雖然在這段經文裡，所羅門王沒有指出誰是那個貧窮而有智慧的少年人，誰是那個年老不肯納諫的愚昧王，但是根據聖經的記載，所羅門王對於耶羅波安將要拿走以色列十個支派的預言是十分清楚的（王上11:29-40）。他是否也像我們一樣，在年記大時，會自嘲記憶力不行了，變成老頑固了？
在世人眼中，出身是成功的條件之一，貧窮又曾被下在監牢中，簡直就是沒有前途了。但是神讓所羅門王看到，被欺壓的人不一定就沒希望了，因為耶和華神是保護和扶持弱勢者的神。在〈箴言〉廿三章11節說：“不可侵入孤兒的田地，因他們救贖主大有能力”，耶和華神是看顧被欺壓者的神。所以祂能賜給所羅門有大智慧，祂也可以賜給貧窮的少年人有智慧。所以瑪利亞讚美神：“祂憐憫敬畏祂的人，直到世世代代。祂用膀臂施展大能，那狂傲的人正心裡妄想就被祂趕散了。 祂叫有權柄的失位，叫卑賤的升高；叫飢餓的得飽美食，叫富足的空手回去”（路1:50-52）。神憐憫敬畏祂的人。
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