our daily bread

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Dexu Xia

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Jun 15, 2017, 1:45:03 AM6/15/17

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What Do We Want?

He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:11

“I went from the horse-and-buggy to a man walking on the moon,” said the elderly man to his granddaughter, who shared this story with me recently. But then he mused, “I never thought it would be so short.”

Life is short, and many of us turn to Jesus because we want to live forever. That’s not bad, but we don’t comprehend what eternal life really is. We tend to crave the wrong things. We long for something better, and we think it’s just ahead. If only I were out of school. If only I had that job. If only I were married. If only I could retire. If only . . . And then one day we catch an echo of our grandfather’s voice as we wonder where the time has flown.

The truth is, we possess eternal life now. The apostle Paul wrote, “The law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). Then he said, “Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (v. 5). In other words, our desires change when we come to Christ. This naturally gives us what we most desire. “The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace” (v. 6).

It’s one of life’s great lies that we need to be somewhere else, doing something else, with someone else before we start truly living. When we find our life in Jesus, we exchange regret over life’s brevity for the full enjoyment of life with Him, both now and forever.

Lord, You said You came to give us life to the fullest, but so often we have our own agenda and the wrong goals in mind. Please forgive us, and help us desire what You want.

To live forever we must let Jesus live in us now.

现在就拥有

那叫基督耶稣从死里复活的，也必藉着住在你们心里的圣灵，使你们必死的身体又活过来。-罗马书8章11节

有位老爷爷曾对他的孙女说：“我从人们还乘坐马车的年代，活到了人类登陆月球的时代！”但他喟然长叹道：“没想到人生如此短暂，一晃几十年便过去了！”

人生确实十分短暂，许多人归向耶稣是因为想拥有永恒的生命。这是无可厚非的，但我们常常不了解永生的真谛，而有错误的追求。我们渴望更美好的事物，却以为将来才会得到，总想着但愿我已毕业……但愿我有那份工作……但愿我结了婚……但愿我已退休……。直到有一天，我们会像那位老爷爷一样，惊觉时光已然流逝。

事实上，我们现在就拥有永生。使徒保罗写道：“赐生命圣灵的律在基督耶稣里释放了我，使我脱离罪和死的律了”（罗马书8章2节），他还表示，随从圣灵的人，以圣灵的事为念（5节）。换句话说，当我们归向基督时，内心自然会拥有所渴望的。因为以圣灵为念的，就有生命、平安（6节）。

人们总误以为要转换环境、工作或伙伴，才能开始享受人生。其实只要在耶稣里得着新生命，我们就无须空叹人生苦短，反要因祂得享满足的喜乐，从今时直到永远。

主啊，祢说祢来是要使我们得生命，并且得的更丰盛。
但我们却常自订计划，追寻错误的目标。
求祢赦免我们，并让我们心中的渴望能合祢心意。