our daily bread
Dexu Xia
Held by God
I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Psalm 131:2
As I was nearing the end of lunch with my sister and her children one afternoon, my sister told my three-year-old niece, Annica, it was time to get ready for her nap. Her face filled with alarm. “But Aunt Monica did not hold me yet today!” she objected, tears filling her eyes. My sister smiled. “Okay, she may hold you first—how long do you need?” “Five minutes,” she replied.
As I held my niece, I was grateful for how, without even trying, she constantly reminds me what it looks like to love and be loved. I think sometimes we forget that our faith journey is one of learning to experience love—God’s love—more fully than we can imagine (Eph. 3:18). When we lose that focus, we can find ourselves, like the older brother in Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son, trying desperately to win God’s approval while missing out on all He has already given us (Luke 15:25–32).
Jesus, help us to be deeply rooted in Your love.
Psalm 131 is one prayer in Scripture that can help us to “become like little children” (Matt. 18:3) and to let go of the battle in our mind over what we don’t understand (Ps. 131:1). Instead, through time with Him we can return to a place of peace (v. 2), finding the hope we need (v. 3) in His love—as calm and quiet as if we were children again in our mothers’ arms (v. 2).
Lord, we are so grateful for those in our lives who remind us what it means to love and be loved. Help us to be ever more deeply rooted in Your love.
Like children, we can learn to rest in the love of God.
在祂怀中
我的心平稳安静，好像断过奶的孩子在他母亲的怀中；我的心在我里面真像断过奶的孩子。-诗篇131篇2节
一日中午，我跟姐姐以及她的孩子们共进午餐。过后，姐姐告诉三岁的外甥女安妮该睡午觉了。但安妮皱着小脸，含泪反对：“可是阿姨今天还没有抱过我耶！”姐姐笑着说：“好吧！阿姨可以抱你。但你想要抱多久？”安妮马上破涕为笑，开心地说：“五分钟！”
当我抱起安妮，心里感激她在不经意间提醒了我，何谓爱与被爱。有时候，我们似乎也忘了信心的道路是要我们学习经历上帝的爱，经历祂那远超过人所能理解的爱（以弗所书3章18节） 。如果我们忽略了这一点，我们可能会发现，自己就像耶稣所说的浪子比喻中的哥哥，拼命想赢得天父上帝的认同，却没看到祂早已将一切赐给我们（路加福音15章25-32节） 。
诗篇131篇是圣经中的一篇祷词，能够帮我们“变成小孩子的样式”（马太福音18章3节） ，我们不再因无法明白的事而感到困扰（诗篇131篇1节），而是藉着与上帝同在，心中得享平安（2节），在祂的爱中得到我们所需的盼望（3节），就如幼时依偎在母亲怀中那般的平稳安静（2节）。
主啊，生命中常有人提醒我们何谓爱与被爱，我们为着有这些人向祢献上感谢。
求祢帮助我们，能更深地扎根在祢的爱中。