Lucky Boots 幸运靴

[Dexu Xia]

I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another. Isaiah 42:8

Too late, Tom felt the chilling “click” beneath his combat boots. Instinctively, he bounded away in an adrenaline-fueled leap. The deadly device hidden underground didn’t detonate. Later, the explosive ordnance disposal team unearthed eighty pounds of high explosives from the spot. Tom wore those boots until they fell apart. “My lucky boots,” he calls them.

Tom may have clung to those boots simply to commemorate his close call. But people are often tempted to consider objects “lucky” or to even give them the more spiritual label “blessed.” Danger arrives when we credit an object—even a symbol—as a source of God’s blessing.

The Israelites learned this the hard way. The Philistine army had just routed them in battle. As Israel reviewed the debacle, someone thought of taking the “ark of the Lord’s covenant” into a rematch (1 Samuel 4:3). That seemed like a good idea (vv. 6–9). After all, the ark of the covenant was a holy object.

But the Israelites had the wrong perspective. By itself, the ark couldn’t bring them anything. Putting their faith in an object instead of in the presence of the one true God, the Israelites suffered an even worse defeat, and the enemy captured the ark (vv. 10–11).

Mementos that remind us to pray or to thank God for His goodness are fine. But they’re never the source of blessing. That is God—and God alone.

By:  Tim Gustafson

How do you show evidence of your faith in God? When you’re faced with a crisis, what do you focus on to help you?

Loving Father, forgive me when I’m tempted to put my faith in anything but You

我是耶和华，这是我的名。我必不将我的荣耀归给假神。—以赛亚书42章8节

当德鸣感受到他战斗靴下那令人不寒而栗的喀嚓声时，已经太迟了！他的肾上腺素飙升，本能地一跃而起。幸好，藏在地底的致命装置未被触发。后来，炸弹拆除大队从那里挖出约36公斤的强力炸药。此后，德鸣就一直穿着那双靴子，直到完全破损为止。他称那双靴子是“幸运靴”。

德鸣很珍惜那双靴子，可能只是为了纪念那次的死里逃生。可惜人们很容易就会将某些物品视为“幸运”，或甚至赋予“有福”这种更具属灵意味的标签。然而，当我们相信某件物品或某种象征，是上帝赐福的来源时，危险就会临到。

以色列人付出惨痛的教训才学会这一点。当他们被非利士人击溃，众人探讨战败的原因时，有人想到将“耶和华的约柜”抬到战场上（撒母耳记上4章3节）。这似乎是个好主意（6-9节），毕竟约柜是圣物。

但这是个错误的观点，因约柜本身不能让以色列人获得什么。他们的信心是因为一件物品，而不是信靠独一真神的同在，使他们遭受更大的挫败，敌军还掳走了约柜（10-11节）。

有时借由某些物品提醒自己要祷告，或要感谢上帝的恩典，都无可厚非。但这些物品绝不会使人蒙福，惟独上帝才是一切福分的源头。

作者：  葛庭墨

你如何显明你信靠的是上帝而非其他事物？
当你面对危机时，你会先从哪里寻求帮助呢？

慈爱的天父，求祢赦免我信心不足，
会想依赖别的事物，求祢让我全心信靠祢