Aug 15
"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22.).
The best things of life come out of wounding. Wheat is crushed before it becomes bread. Incense must be cast upon the fire before its odors are set free. The ground must be broken with the sharp plough before it is ready to receive the seed. It is the broken heart that pleases God. The sweetest joys in life are the fruits of sorrow. Human nature seems to need suffering to fit it for being a blessing to the world.
If you aspire to be a son of consolation; if you would partake of the priestly gift of sympathy; if you would pour something beyond commonplace consolation into a tempted heart; if you would pass through the intercourse of daily life with the delicate tact that never inflicts pain; you must be content to pay the price of a costly education--like Him, you must suffer.--F. W. Robertson
“Beside my cottage door it grows,
The loveliest, daintiest flower that blows,
A sweetbriar rose.”
“At dewy morn or twilight's close,
The rarest perfume from it flows,
This strange wild rose.”
“But when the rain-drops on it beat,
Ah, then, its odors grow more sweet,
About my feet.”
“Ofttimes with loving tenderness,
Its soft green leaves I gently press,
In sweet caress.”
“A still more wondrous fragrance flows
The more my fingers close
And crush the rose.”
“Dear Lord, oh, let my life be so
Its perfume when tempests blow,
The sweeter flow.”
“And should it be Thy blessed will,
With crushing grief my soul to fill,
Press harder still.”
“And while its dying fragrance flows
I'll whisper low, 'He loves and knows
His crushed briar rose.”
八月十五日
「我进入神的国，必须经历许多艰难。」（徒十四22）
人生最佳美的东西，都是从苦难中得来的。麦子必须磨碎，纔能做成面包。香料必须经火，纔能发出浓郁的香气。泥土必须耕松，纔能适于下种。照样，一个破碎的心，纔会得到神的喜悦。人生最甜蜜的欢乐，都是忧伤的果子。我们必须亲身经历许多艰难，然后纔会去安慰别人。
如果，你渴望作一个安慰使者；如果，你愿意有怜恤的恩赐，如果，你想从你身上流出新鲜的慰语来扶持受试炼的弟兄姊妹；如果，你要在日常过着光润的生活不叫别人感到你的酸辣，你必须甘心乐意地付一笔昂贵的教育费━你必须像主那样受苦。──劳 |
