[今日經文 Today’s Reading: 希伯來書 Hebrews 5-8]
13 凡只能吃奶的，就不熟練仁義的道理，因為他是嬰孩。 14 惟獨長大成人的才能吃乾糧，他們的心竅因練習而靈活，能分辨善惡了。
希伯來書 Hebrews 5:13-14
13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
我們是屬靈的嬰孩還是成熟的成年人？希伯來書的作者告誡我們，不要永遠停在屬靈的嬰孩，而要”進到成熟的地步” (6:1)。屬靈的嬰兒和屬靈的成熟者之間的主要區別是我們在“熟練仁義的道理”。當我們熟練掌握上帝的話時，我們便具有辨別能力，以分辨善惡。但是這種能力是通過不斷練習(constant practice)而獲得的。長期以來，我們一直以為基督徒意味著每週一次“去教堂”或只是參加教會活動。但是當考驗來臨時，我們發現教會裡許多人仍然是嬰孩。鍾馬田（Martyn Lloyd-Jones）在他的《復興 Revival》一書中生動地描述了當今教會的景況：
如果我們每個基督徒，對今天的教會景況無動於衷, 我們就都是極可憐的基督徒。 如果我們到教會只是為了尋求個人的幫助，除此以外別無貢獻，那麼我們就是基督裡吃奶的嬰孩。 我們若要在靈裡長進，就必須關切ㄧ般政局，關切社會需要，關切教會光景，關切穿上全能上帝的軍裝。 我再說, 教會復興是關乎我們每個人的事。
剛出生的嬰兒可愛，三十歲的嬰兒就麻煩了，更何況是成百上千的“老嬰兒”。現在該是教會停止“保姆服務 babysitting”，而改為訓練基督精兵的時候了！
禱告：親愛的天父，願我們每天都在祢的話語中成長，使我們就能變得成熟，能夠分辨善惡。 奉耶穌的名，阿們。
Are we a spiritual baby or a spiritually mature adult? The author of Hebrews warns us not to remain a spiritual baby forever but to “go on to maturity.” (6:1) The key difference between a spiritual baby and the spiritually mature is how skilled we are “in the word of righteousness.” When we are skilled in the Word of God then we have powers of discernment to distinguish good from evil. But this power is gained through training, by constant practice. For too long we have thought that being a Christian means “going to church” once a week or simply participating in church activities. But when trials come we find out that we are still babies. In his book entitled Revival, Martyn Lloyd-Jones vividly describes the situation in our churches:
Unless we, as individual Christians, are feeling a grave concern about the state of the Church and the world today, then we are very poor Christians indeed. If we are people who come to the Christian Church merely in order to get some personal help, and no more, then we are the veriest babes in Christ. If we have grown at all, then we must have a concern about the situation, a concern about the state of society, a concern about the Church and a concern about the armour of Almighty God. It is, I repeat, a matter that should come home to every one of us.
A newborn baby is cute, but a thirty year-old baby is a problem, not to mention hundreds of “old babies”. It is time for us in our churches to stop “babysitting” and instead to train up Christian soldiers!
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, may we grow in Your Word daily so we can become mature to distinguish good from evil. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
