第四週■週一
晨興餧養
創二二 1 ～ 2『這些事以後，神試驗亞伯拉罕，對他說，亞伯拉罕。他說，我在這裏。神說，你帶着你的兒子，就是你獨生的兒子，你所愛的以撒，往摩利亞地去，在我所要指示你的山上，把他獻爲燔祭。』
〔聖經在創世記二十一章〕題過亞伯拉罕栽種垂絲柳樹並呼求主的名以後，就題到神進來試驗他。（二二 1。）神不像撒但，絕不試誘人。但祂的確試驗我們，就像祂試驗亞伯拉罕一樣。…亞伯拉罕在贖回別是巴的井以後，毫無疑問作了許多事，但…聖經沒有題起別的，反而立刻說到神試驗亞伯拉罕。（創世記生命讀經，九一一頁。）
信息選讀
常常在我們對主有了上好的享受以後，祂不要求我們爲祂作甚麼，卻吩咐我們將祂所賜給我們的獻回給祂。…我們總是盼望在與主有了一段美好的時光以後，祂會吩咐我們爲祂作甚麼。我們從來沒有想到，祂會要求我們將祂所賜給我們的還給祂。當亞伯拉罕享受與神親密的交通時，神沒有囑咐他要爲祂作工。他從神領受了最高的要求，就是將神所賜給他的還給神。從起初，神就沒有接受亞伯拉罕所有的。…如今，在以利以謝、羅得、和以實瑪利都被棄絕以後，亞伯拉罕得着了以撒，就是神所應許的後裔，他安心了。凡與以撒有關的都是出於神，且憑着神。…但忽然神進來，似乎說，『我絕不棄絕以撒，他是出於我且從我生的。但是亞伯拉罕，你現在必須把他還給我。』
亞伯拉罕真了不起。…倘若我是亞伯拉罕，我不會獻上以撒。我會搖頭說，『不，這必定不是出於主。祂要以利以謝是合乎邏輯的，要求以實瑪利也是合理的；但神怎能要我將以撒還給祂？神不是沒有目的的。祂應許要給我一個後裔，祂的應許也已經堅定並且成就了。爲甚麼祂現在要使祂已往對我所作的一切報廢？』不錯，神是有目的的神，祂要求亞伯拉罕將以撒還給祂，的確是有目的的。
許多基督徒，包括一些基督教工人在內，從來沒有學習一個功課，將神所賜給他們的獻回給神。你得着了一項恩賜麼？不要緊持不放。遲早神要進來說，『將我所賜給你的恩賜獻回給我。』神賜給你成功的工作麼？到一個時候，神也許說，『這工作是我所賜給你的以撒，現在我要你獻回給我。』許多基督教工人，不願在神所賜給他們的工作上放手。然而，神所賜給我們的一切，甚至祂在我們裏面並藉着我們所作的，我們都必須獻回給祂。
在創世記二十二章二節…神吩咐亞伯拉罕將他所愛的獨生兒子以撒獻上。要亞伯拉罕這樣作真是爲難！倘若我們是他，我們會說，『主，我現在一百二十多歲了，撒拉也快要死了。你怎能要求我將你所賜給我的獻回給你？』…我們能作見證，已過好些時候，神要求我們將祂所賜給我們的還給祂。祂所給我們的恩賜、能力、工作和成就，我們必須獻回給祂。這是真正的試驗。要亞伯拉罕放棄羅得或以利以謝很容易，甚至要他趕出以實瑪利也不是那麼難，但要他獻上他所愛的獨生兒子卻是非常困難的事。有一天，在我們對主有了美好的享受以後，祂會要求我們將祂所賜給我們的恩賜、工作、或成就還給祂。祂也許說，『現在是我向你有所要求的時候了。我不要求你爲我工作或去佈道。我要求你獻回我所賜給你的。』這是我們今天都必須走的路。（創世記生命讀經，九一一至九一四頁。）
參讀：創世記生命讀經，第五十七篇。
WEEK 4 — DAY 1
Morning Nourishment
Gen. 22:1-2 Now after these things God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. And He said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.
After the mention of Abraham’s planting a tamarisk tree and calling on the name of Jehovah [in Genesis 21], God came in to test him (22:1). God, unlike Satan, never tempts anyone. But He does test us like He tested Abraham… After Abraham redeemed the well in Beer-sheba, he undoubtedly did many things, but…the Bible does not mention them. Rather, it immediately speaks of God’s testing Abraham. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 749)
Todays Reading
Often after we have had the best enjoyment of the Lord, He will not ask us to do something for Him; rather, He will tell us to offer back to Him what He has given us…We always expect that after having a good time with the Lord, He will command us to do something for Him. We never imagine that He may ask us to give back to Him that which He has given us. As Abraham was enjoying intimate fellowship with God, he was not commanded to work for Him. He received the highest demand from God— to give back to God what God had given him. From the very beginning, God never accepted anything that Abraham had…Now, after Eliezer, Lot, and Ishmael had all been rejected, Abraham had acquired Isaac, the seed promised by God, and was at peace. Everything concerning Isaac was of God and by God…But suddenly, God came in and seemed to say, “I would never refuse Isaac. He was born of and from Me. But, Abraham, now you must give him back to Me.”
Abraham was marvelous…If I had been Abraham, I would not have offered Isaac. I would have shaken my head and said, “No, this certainly is not of Jehovah. It would have been logical for Him to want Eliezer and reasonable to demand Ishmael. But how could God want me to give Isaac back to Him? God is not purposeless. He promised to give me a seed, and His promise has been confirmed and fulfilled. Why would He now waste all that He has been doing with me?” Yes, God is a God of purpose, and He certainly had a purpose in asking Abraham to give Isaac back to Him.
Many Christians, including some Christian workers, have never learned the lesson of offering back to God what He has given them. Have you received a gift? Do not hold on to it. Sooner or later, God will come in and say, “Offer back to Me the gift that I have given you.” Has God given you a successful work? At a certain time, God may say, “This work is the Isaac that I have given to you. Now I want you to offer it back to Me.” However, many Christian workers will not take their hands off the work that God has given them. Nevertheless, all that God has given us, even what He has wrought in and through us, must be offered back to Him.
In Genesis 22:2 God…told Abraham to offer up Isaac, his only son, whom he loved. How hard it must have been for Abraham to do this! If we had been he, we would have said, “Lord, I am more than a hundred twenty years of age, and Sarah is about to die. How can You ask me to offer back to You what You have given me?”…We can testify that quite a number of times in the past, God asked us to give back to Him what He had given us. The gifts, power, work, and success that He gives us must be offered back to Him. This is a real test. It would have been easy for Abraham to give up Lot or Eliezer. Even casting out Ishmael was not that difficult. But for him to offer his only son, whom he loved, was a very difficult thing. One day, after our having a good enjoyment of the Lord, He will ask us to give back to Him the gift, work, or success He has given us. He may say, “Now is the time for Me to ask you for something. I don’t ask you to work for Me or to go to the mission field. I ask you to offer back what I have given you.” This is the way we all must take today. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 750-751)
Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 57
