第八週•週三

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晨興餧養

西二7『在祂裏面已經生根，並正被建造…。』

    19『…持定元首；本於祂，全身藉着節和筋，得了豐富的供應，並結合一起，就以神的增長而長大。』

長大和建造都在於生根。…〔基督〕旣是美地，祂自己就是豐富、肥沃的土壤。我們在基督裏面旣已生根，〔西二7，〕就必須天天把祂豐富的滋養吸收到我們裏面，作爲使我們長大的元素。〔我們作爲〕幼嫩的根該終日吸取基督這土壤的豐富。我們越吸取這些豐富，就越被基督所浸透，並且生機的被祂所頂替。這就是長大，以及在基督裏被建造。

保羅在林前三章九節說，聖徒乃是神的耕地。他在六節說，『我栽種了…。』…神是真正的農夫，保羅是神的一位同工。（林後六1。）保羅與神同工，把信徒栽種到基督裏。基督就是土壤。…許多人藉着保羅所傳的福音和話語的職事，被栽種到基督裏。（歌羅西書生命讀經，五六六至五六七頁。）

信息選讀

神乃是藉着進到我們裏面，叫我們生長的。神越加到我們裏面，就越使我們生長。…在我們裏面若沒有神的加多，就不會有長大。基督身體的長大在於我們裏面神的增長，神的加添，神的增多。所以，神是以非常主觀的方式把祂自己給了我們，而叫我們生長。

有一首著名的詩歌勸我們要『花時間成爲聖別』。事實上，我們的需要乃是花時間吸取神。我們每天怎樣花時間喫東西，我們也該照樣花時間吸取主，花時間吸收基督的豐富。我們與主接觸不該匆匆忙忙的。如果我們匆匆忙忙，就不能吸收多少祂的豐富。我們需要有充分的時間來禱告，這使我們能更多吸取神的豐富。

神不僅僅是一個名詞，也不僅僅是敬拜的對象。祂乃是真實的、豐富的、實在的，我們需要吸取祂。今天我們的神乃是經過過程、包羅萬有的靈，而我們有靈可以吸取祂。因此，我們必須操練我們的靈，留在神的面光中來吸取祂。這是需要花時間的。…不要浪費時間在心思、情感、意志裏，乃要更多花時間在靈裏愛慕主，讚美祂，向祂獻上感謝，並且自由的對祂說話。你這樣與祂交通，就吸取祂的豐富，祂也會更多把祂自己加到你裏面。神越加到我們裏面，就越使我們生長。

你若看見我們在基督這豐富的土壤裏生根，就會得着安慰和鼓勵。…要思想你在其中生根的豐富土壤。在這土壤裏，你豈不是有豐滿、割禮、埋葬、復活、生命的分賜、規條的塗抹、和黑暗權勢的脫下麼？忘掉你的環境、你的光景、你的失敗、以及你的輭弱，單單花時間享受主。…倘若你花時間吸取主，你就能見證，你在基督裏一無所缺。

我們每天早晨需要花足彀的時間吸取主。…倘若你早晨花半小時吸取主、享受主，你在一天當中，就不會受到反面事物的攪擾。…讓我們從思想、情感、意念中回轉過來，將自己向主敞開，運用我們的靈說，『主耶穌，我愛你，我敬拜你，我尊崇你。主，我把自己獻給你，我把心交給你，把今天每一件事都交給你。』你這樣接觸主的時候，切毋匆忙。要花時間，越多越好。你花時間接觸主的時候，自然而然就把土壤裏的豐富吸收到你裏面。（歌羅西書生命讀經，五六七至五六八、五八二至五八三頁。）

參讀：歌羅西書生命讀經，第五十二篇。

WEEK 8 — DAY 3

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Morning Nourishment

Col.2:7 Having been rooted and being built up in Him…

       19 And not holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.

Both the growth and the building depend on being rooted…As the good land, Christ Himself is the rich, fertile soil. Having been rooted in Him [Col. 2:7], we must daily absorb the rich nourishment of Christ into us to be the element that causes us to grow. All day long, [as] tender roots [we] should absorb the riches of Christ as the soil. The more we absorb these riches, the more we will be saturated by Christ and organically replaced by Him. This is to grow and to be built up in Christ.

Paul says that the saints are God’s cultivated land (1 Cor. 3:9). In verse 6 he says, “I planted…”…God is the real Farmer, and Paul was one of His coworkers (2 Cor. 6:1). Working together with God, Paul planted the believers into Christ. Christ is the soil…Through Paul’s preaching of the gospel and ministry of the word, many were planted into Christ. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 447-448)

Today’s Reading

[God] causes the growth by getting into us. The more God is added to us, the more growth He causes…Without the increase of God within us, there cannot be any growth. The growth of the Body depends on the growth of God, the addition of God, the increase of God, within us. Therefore, God causes the growth by giving Himself to us in a very subjective way.

A well-known hymn exhorts us to “take time to be holy.” Actually, our need is to take time to absorb God. As we daily take time to eat food, we should daily take time to absorb the Lord, take time to assimilate the riches of Christ. Our contact with the Lord should not be rushed. If we are in a hurry, we will not be able to absorb much of His riches. We need to allow adequate time for prayer. This will enable us to absorb more of the riches of our God.

God is not simply a term or an object of worship. He is real, rich, and substantial, and we need to absorb Him. Our God today is the processed, allinclusive Spirit, and we have a spirit with which to absorb Him. Thus, we must exercise our spirit to stay in His presence to absorb Him. This takes time…Do not spend so much time in your mind, emotion, and will, but spend more time in your spirit to adore the Lord, to praise Him, to offer thanks to Him, and to speak to Him freely. As you fellowship with Him in this way, you will absorb His riches, and He will add more of Himself into you. The more God is added into us, the more growth He gives to us.

If you see that we have been rooted in Christ as the rich soil, you will be comforted and encouraged…Consider the rich soil in which you are rooted. In this soil do you not have the fullness, the circumcision, the burial, the raising up, the giving of life, the wiping out of the ordinances, and the stripping off of the powers of darkness? Forget your situation, your condition, your failures, and your weaknesses and simply take time to enjoy the Lord…If you take time to absorb the Lord, you will be able to testify that in Christ you have no lack.

Every morning we need to take an adequate amount of time to absorb the Lord…If you spend thirty minutes to absorb the Lord and to enjoy Him in the morning, you will not be bothered by negative things during the day…Let us turn from our thought, emotion, and intention and open ourselves to the Lord, exercising our spirit to say, “O Lord Jesus, I love You, I worship You, and I adore You. Lord, I give myself to You. I give You my heart and everything concerning this day.” As you contact the Lord in this way, do not be hurried. Take time, the more the better. As you spend time contacting the Lord, spontaneously, you will absorb into you the riches of the soil. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 448-449, 459-460)

Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msg. 52