〈申命記〉 12:25 不可吃血。這樣，你行耶和華眼中看為正的事，你和你的子孫就可以得福。
在非常推崇素食的時代裡，看到〈申命記〉12章19-32節，會不讓你連想到昨天讀的經文：「各人行自己眼中看為正的事」？今天這段經文給了我們一節對照的經文：「行耶和華你神眼中看為善、看為正的事(申12:28)」。在人的一生裡，經常在這兩節經文的掙扎之中做選擇，究竟要行自己眼中看為正的事好，還是要行耶和華神眼中看為正的事？前一陣子我也一直在思考這個問題，一定要吃素食才健康嗎？雖然現在的肉食有太多的抗生素等等因素，但是有些肉店還是有品質不錯的肉，我們必須放棄嗎？在不斷地思考中，我幾乎不知如何下廚了。
在神起初創造這個世界時，神把蔬菜和水果賜給亞當和夏娃作為食物；在大洪水之後，神又把動物賜給挪亞和他的後裔作為食物。然後在以色列人出埃及之後，神正式宣告，哪些是不潔的動物，哪些是潔淨可食的動物。
The next time you fear the future, rejoice in the Lord’s sovereignty. Rejoice in what he has accomplished. Rejoice that he is able to do what you cannot do. Fill your mind with thoughts of God.
“He is the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:25).
“He is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
“His years will never end” (Psalm 102:27).
He is king, supreme ruler, absolute monarch, and overlord of all history. An arch of his eyebrow and a million angels will pivot and salute! Every throne is a footstool to his. Every crown is papier-mache next to his. He consults no advisers. He needs no congress. He reports to no one. He is in charge.
Sovereignty gives the saint the inside track to peace. Others see the problems of the world and wring their hands. We see the problems of the world and bend our knees.
What will happen if your job disappears? Or your health diminishes? Or the economy takes a nosedive? Does God have a message for his people when calamity strikes?
He certainly had a word for Isaiah. The prophet wrote, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up…above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory’” (Isaiah 6:1-3).
God calmed the fears of Isaiah, not by removing the problem, but by revealing his divine power and presence. Rejoice that God is able to do what you cannot do! Your anxiety decreases as your understanding of your heavenly father increases.
〈申命記〉 12:18 要在耶和華─你的 神面前吃，在耶和華─你 神所要選擇的地方，你和兒女、僕婢，並住在你城裡的利未人，都可以吃；也要因你手所辦的，在耶和華─你 神面前歡樂。
讀了這段經文之後，我心裡有一種很深的感動。摩西在前面幾章講到神為以色列人做的事情，神給他們的律法，神為他們預備的美地，但是都不如這裡的信息那麼令人感動。神為了和以色列人建立關係，做出了許多無可倫比的神蹟奇事，又給他們最完備的建國方略（律法等），但是都不如這裡的信息來得直接，神要選民在神的面前歡樂度日。
神不是包青天，準備了龍頭鍘、虎頭鍘和狗頭鍘，專門等那些犯法的人上前來，就給他鍘一下。祂希望以色列人，祂的子民都因為手所辦的一切事蒙神祝福，因而在神面前歡樂。
Control freaks are easily frustrated. We can’t take control, because control is not ours to take. The Bible has a better idea. Rather than seeking control, relinquish it. Peace is within reach, not for lack of problems, but because of the presence of a sovereign Lord.
Rather than rehearse the chaos of the world, rejoice in the Lord’s sovereignty, as the Apostle Paul did. From prison he wrote, “The things which have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to the rest, that my chains are in Christ” (Philippians 1:12-13).
In the innermost of his being, Paul was a man who believed in the steady hand of a good God, protected and preserved by God’s love. He lived beneath the shadow of God’s wings. Do you?
〈申命記〉 11:11-12你們要過去得為業的那地乃是有山有谷、雨水滋潤之地，是耶和華─你 神所眷顧的；從歲首到年終，耶和華─你 神的眼目時常看顧那地。
在前一章摩西說以色列人曾是悖逆的百姓，但是他希望百姓進迦南之後，記念神的作為，效法神，好像蒙慈愛的兒女一樣。
對以色列人而言，神所有的作為，包括使埃及人的車輛全軍覆沒，以色列可拉族反叛的人被地吞噬，都是為了讓以色列人知所依歸，知所事從。
所以摩西告誡以色列人：「所以，你們要守我今日所吩咐的一切誡命，使你們膽壯，能以進去，得你們所要得的那地，並使你們的日子在耶和華向你們列祖起誓、應許給他們和他們後裔的地上得以長久；那是流奶與蜜之地。」(申11:8-9)
以色列人守誡命，正如我們今天守政府條例。誡命裡的限制，都是為了使以色列人在神所賜的地上得以長久；政府的條例也是希望我們能平安而健康地活下去。
〈申命記〉 10:12 以色列啊，現在耶和華─你 神向你所要的是甚麼呢？只要你敬畏耶和華─你的 神，遵行祂的道，愛祂，盡心盡性事奉祂，遵守祂的誡命律例，就是我今日所吩咐你的，為要叫你得福。
以色列人是悖逆的百姓，神卻因為祂的恩召而不忍棄絕他們。我們也都是活在過犯中不知悔改的人，神的慈繩愛索卻也未曾棄絕我們。
神依然賜下十誡，吩咐摩西：「你起來引導這百姓，使他們進去得我向他們列祖起誓應許所賜之地。」祂也依然賜下獨生子耶穌基督，為我們的過犯被釘上十字架，使我們的罪得赦免；又為我們復活，使我們得永生；又賜下聖靈，把神的話語放在我們心中， 使我們的石心變為肉心。
那麼，神向我們要的是什麼呢？
If anyone had a reason to be anxious it was the apostle Paul. Envision an old man as he gazes out the window of a Roman prison. Half-blind, squinting just to read. Awaiting trial before the Roman emperor. His future is as gloomy as his jail cell.
Yet to read his words, you’d think he’d just arrived at a Jamaican beach hotel. His letter to the Philippians bears not a word of fear or complaint. Not one! Instead, he lifts his thanks to God and calls on his readers to do the same. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4)
Paul’s challenge is a decision deeply rooted in the confidence that God exists, that he is in control, and that he is good. Rejoice in the Lord always. You can’t run the world, but you can entrust it to God.
〈申命記〉 9: 5 你進去得他們的地，並不是因你的義，也不是因你心裡正直，乃是因這些國民的惡。
有一位猶太人的拉比說，他很喜歡聽他的祖父母講以前的故事。他的祖父母是二次大戰後的倖存者，他們做了一個家譜，並且告訴子孫們，那些長輩和親戚的名字有何特別的意義。他從不認識那些親人，但是在回憶那些親人時，他的祖父母彷彿就因而得到很大的安慰。他自己也因而得到很奇妙的鼓勵，因為他終於有「家族的故事」，可以讓他的兒女或子孫們知道他們的先祖是哪些人，是怎樣的人。他說，猶太人的習俗教導他們要知道過去的歷史，才能明白前面要走的方向。因此他們在過節時，往往有一段述史的時間，提醒他們和神的關係。
It is not God’s will that you face every day with dread and trepidation.
I have a childhood memory that I cherish. My father loved corn bread and buttermilk. About ten o’clock each night he would meander into the kitchen and crumble a piece of corn bread into a glass of buttermilk, stand at the counter and drink it. Then he’d make the rounds to the front and back doors, checking the locks. Once everything was secure, he would step into the bedroom I shared with my brother and say something like, “Everything is secure, boys. You can go to sleep now.”
I have no inclination to believe that God loves corn bread and buttermilk, but I do believe he loves his children. He keeps everything secure. He oversees your world. And by his power you will “be anxious for nothing” and discover the “peace…that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:4-8 RSV).
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