our daily bread

[Dexu Xia]

Selfish Christianity

²⁴ Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.  When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”²⁶ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”John 6:24-27

    Which interests you more--who Jesus is or what He can do for you? I’m afraid that too many of us are more concerned about what He can give us than we are about getting to know who He is.  But this is nothing new--Jesus had this problem when He walked on earth. The crowds often sought Him out for what He could do for them. Even though their needs were quite often legitimate, Christ knew their motives.

    There is a fine line between selfishly trying to use the Lord to get what we want and humbly coming to Him with our needs and struggles. Some of the issues we bring to Him are so pressing and urgent in our minds that our desire for Him to take action in the way we want becomes greater than our willingness to submit to His will. At times, what we call “faith” is really a demanding spirit.  We must remember that our needs will come to an end, but Jesus Christ will remain forever. If our prayers have dealt only with presenting our requests to the Lord, we’ve missed a great opportunity to get to know the One with whom we’ll spend eternity. Let’s invest time in pursuing intimacy with Christ. Then we can enjoy the benefits of that relationship forever.

How much of your communion with God is devoted to your needs--even legitimate ones? Are you spending any time getting to know the Lord? Although God delights in our prayers and tells us to pray about everything, He also wants us to come to Him just because we enjoy being with Him.

自私的“基督徒”

    众人见耶稣和门徒都不在那里、就上了船、往迦百农去找耶稣。既在海那边找着了、就对他说、拉比、是几时到这里来的。耶稣回答说、我实实在在的告诉你们、你们找我、并不是因见了神迹、乃是因吃饼得饱。不要为那必坏的食物劳力、要为那存到永生的食物劳力、就是人子要赐给你们的．因为人子是父　神所印证的。 约翰福音6：24-27

    你更感兴趣的是耶稣是谁?还是他能为你做什么？恐怕我们中间许多人更关心的是他能给我们什么，而不是认识他是谁。但这并不是什么新鲜事，耶稣在地上行走时就遇到这个问题。人们经常为着他能为他们做的事寻求他，即使他们的需要往往是合理的。主基督知道他们的动机。
    自私地想利用主来得到我们想要的和因着我们的需要和难处而谦卑地来寻求主，这两者之间的区别十分细微。有些我们带到主面前的问题是我们心里迫切想要的，以至我们渴望主以我们盼望的方式采取行动，甚于我们乐意服从主的旨意。有时候，这只是一种命令，我们却称之为“信心”。我们必须记住，到时候我们不会再有肉身的需求，但耶稣基督将永远存在，如果我们的祈祷只是向主提要求，我们就错过了认识我们将一起度永生的那位主的好机会，让我们花时间追求与基督的亲密关系，这样，我们才可能从中享受永远的好处。

    你的祷告有多少是为了你肉身的需求，即使是合理的需求？你花多少时间去追求认识主耶稣？ 

    尽管上帝喜悦我们的祷告，并嘱咐我们要为凡事祷告，上帝更喜悦我们来到她面前，只是为了与他亲近。