Longing for God 渴慕上帝
Dexu Xia
Even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen. Nehemiah 1:9
When Conner and Sarah Smith moved five miles up the road, their cat S’mores expressed his displeasure by running away. One day Sarah saw a current photo of their old farmhouse on social media. There was S’mores in the picture!
Happily, the Smiths went to retrieve him. S’mores ran away again. Guess where he went? This time, the family that had purchased their house agreed to keep S’mores too. The Smiths couldn’t stop the inevitable; S’mores would always return “home.”
Nehemiah served in a prestigious position in the king’s court in Susa, but his heart was elsewhere. He had just heard news of the sad condition of “the city where my ancestors are buried” (Nehemiah 2:3). And so he prayed, “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, . . . ‘if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name’ ” (1:8–9).
Home is where the heart is, they say. In Nehemiah’s case, longing for home was more than being tied to the land. It was communion with God that he most desired. Jerusalem was “the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.”
The dissatisfaction we sense deep down is actually a longing for God. We’re yearning to be home with Him.
What’s your idea of home and why? In what ways do you sense yourself longing for God?
Father, help me understand that only You can satisfy my longings. Help me be at home with You, no matter where I am.
你们被赶散的人虽在天涯，我也必从那里将他们招聚回来，带到我所选择立为我名的居所。—尼希米记1章9节
当史先生和史太太搬离农舍，到8公里以外的地方居住时，他们养的猫咪糖糖因为不喜欢而跑了。有一天，史太太在社群媒体上，看到他们的旧农舍最近被人拍下的照片，而糖糖竟然就在照片里！
他们夫妻俩开心地把糖糖带回新住处，但不久它又跑了。猜猜它去了哪里？这一次，买下旧农舍的家庭同意收养糖糖。糖糖想要回“家”的强烈意愿，史先生和史太太亦无法阻止。
尼希米在书珊城的王宫中担任要职，但他心却在别处。那时，他刚接到消息，听见他“列祖坟墓所在的那城”的悲惨景况（尼希米记2章3节）。于是，他向上帝祷告说：“求祢记念所吩咐祢仆人摩西的话说：‘⋯⋯你们若归向我，谨守遵行我的诫命，你们被赶散的人虽在天涯，我也必从那里将他们招聚回来，带到我所选择立为我名的居所。’”（1章8-9节）
常言道，家是心之所在。对尼希米而言，对家的渴望不只是回归故土，最重要的是与上帝相交，因耶路撒冷是上帝“所选择立为我名的居所”。
我们内心深处的不满足或空虚，其实是因为对上帝的渴慕，我们渴望回到上帝的家与祂同在。
对你而言何谓“家”？为什么呢？
在哪些方面，你感觉到自己对上帝的渴慕？
天父，求祢让我明白，只有祢能满足我的渴望。
无论我身在何方，请帮助我体会有祢同在便是家。