13. Manna issue 58 - Reflection 反省
Reason to Hope 盼望的理由
Jing Ye—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 美國賓州費城
Week after week, you tell your friends,
“No, I can’t go on Saturday. Remember?
I have church…No, not Friday night either!
I also have church.”
一周又一周，你告訴你的朋友，
“不，我星期六不能去。記得嗎？”
我要去教堂……不，星期五晚上也不去！
我也有教堂。 」
Each time, your friends feel more disappointed
that you can’t spend time with them because of church
and they’ll ask,
“Is church really that important to you?
Why do you even want to go?”
每次你的朋友感到很失望，
你不能花時間和他們混在一起，因為要去教會，
他們會問，
“教會對你來說真的很重要嗎？
為什麼你還想去呢？ ”
At times this is where many people, including myself, get stuck.
You can’t just respond by saying that your parents make you go
because your friends will say that religion should be your personal decision.
有時候，這就是包括我自己在內的許多人都會卡住。
你不能只是回說你父母逼你去教會，
因為你的朋友會說，宗教信仰應該是你個人的決定。
Instead, you have to respond with an answer
reflecting your own opinion on church
and how much it really means to you.
Without a sincere heart that willingly seeks to worship God,
it’s hard to give a strong enough reply to defend your beliefs.
相反的，你必須給出答案，
反應你自已對教會的想法，
以及教會對你來說到底有多重要。
如果沒有誠心樂意尋求敬拜神，
很難給出足夠有力的答覆來捍衛自已的信仰。
SANCTIFY THE LORD GOD IN YOUR HEARTS 內心尊主神為聖
In 1 Peter, a letter written to the dispersed Hebrew Christians,
the apostle Peter expressed his understanding of the threats they received from nonbelievers.
He told them not to be afraid,
but to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,
and always be ready to give a defense to everyone
who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.
(1 Pet 3:15)
彼得前書，寫信給分散的希伯來基督徒，
使徒彼得表達他自已了解未信者帶給他們的威脅。
他告訴他們不要害怕，
15只要心裡尊主基督為聖。
有人問你們心中盼望的緣由，
就要常作準備，以溫柔、敬畏的心回答各人；
（彼前 3：15）
If we do not know for certain the reason behind holding onto our beliefs,
then, as Peter advised,
“sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.”
如果我們不確定堅持自已信仰背後的原因，
然後，正如彼得勉勵，
“15只要心裡尊主基督為聖。”
A Different Meaning 不同的含義
The first keyword in this advice is “sanctify.”
To sanctify is to purify, consecrate, dedicate, and venerate.
When used in the context of God sanctifying us, the definition fits.
這條建議的第一個關鍵字是“分別為聖”。
聖化就是淨化，神化，奉獻和尊崇。
在以神使我們分別為聖的情況時，這個定義很合適。
However, in this verse where we are the ones sanctifying God,
only “dedicate” and “venerate” are suitable.
God can purify and consecrate us,
but not the other way around, because God is holy.
然而，在此節經中，我們就是尊神為大的人，
只有“奉獻”和“尊崇”才比較合適。
神可以潔淨我們，使我們分別為聖，
但反過來就不行，因為神本為聖潔。
Furthermore, we must dedicate and venerate God in our hearts.
As living beings, the heart is crucial because it gives life.
The Bible records the importance of the heart in Proverbs 27:19:
“As in water face reveals face, so a man’s heart reveals the man.”
此外，我們必須在自已內心奉獻與尊崇神。
作為生命活物，內心至關重要，因為它能賦予生命。
聖經箴言 27 篇 19 節中記載了內心的重要性：
“19水中照臉，彼此相符；人與人，心也相對。”
We can see that the heart not only sustains our physical life
but also endows the core personality that makes us who we are
—all of our innermost thoughts, desires, and emotions.
我們可以看到心臟不僅會維持我們肉體的生命，
而且也賦予成為我們是什麼樣子自己的核心個性，
—我們內心深處一切的想法，願望和情感。
We cannot truly understand a person unless we know his heart,
and neither can we live without a heart.
Hence, if the heart is essential to a human,
sanctifying God in our hearts is necessary to our lives.
我們不能真正了解一個人，除非我們了解他的內心，
我們也不能沒有心而活著。
因此，如果心臟對於一個人很重要，
在我們的內心尊崇神對我們的生活是必要的。
A Different Feeling 不同的感受
As a whole, the phrase “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” implies that
we should dedicate and venerate God genuinely.
總的來說，“只要心裡尊主基督為聖”這句話隱含著，
我們應該真誠奉獻及尊崇神。
To dedicate, we should focus our time, effort, and thoughts
less toward secular ways
and more toward ways that are pleasing in God’s eyes.
To venerate, we must always keep in mind
that our God is almighty and worthy of worship.
若要奉獻，我們應該注意自已的時間，精力及心思，
更少考慮世俗的事情，
而更多選擇在神眼中得蒙喜悅的方式。
為了崇敬，我們必須一直記得，
我們的神是全能的，值得敬拜。
This is not a one-time occurrence
but an ongoing process that requires determination and persistence.
When we have sustained our dedication to and veneration of God,
then we will have completely surrendered the most precious spot in our hearts
as a dwelling place for God.
這不是一次性的事件，
但這是一個持續的過程，需要決心和毅力。
若我們有保持對神奉獻投入敬拜時，
那麼我們將徹底臣服讓出自已心中最珍貴的位置，
作為神的居所。
Once this form of reverence for our Lord God has been cultivated,
we will clearly understand what our motivation is
in holding on to God’s promised hope of heaven and salvation.
Deep in our hearts, there will be a yearning
to willingly offer all that we have for God.
一旦培養了這種尊敬主神的樣式，
我們將很清楚了解自已的動機是什麼，
以堅持神應許天國和救贖的盼望。
在我們內心深處，會有一種渴望嚮往，
心甘情願給神獻上自已擁有的一切。
Even more, we will be convinced
that every drip of sweat, every teardrop,
every minute, every word of praise,
and every good thing in this earth spent on glorifying God
has served its greatest purpose.
更重要的是，我們將確信，
每一滴汗水，每一滴淚，
每一分鐘，每一句讚美之詞，
以及世上每一件好事都為榮耀神，
都已達到其最偉大的目的。
THE HOPE IN YOU 內心的盼望
So,
“Is church really that important to me?
Do I really want to go?
Why do I bother exerting so much effort to serve God?”
那麼，
“難道教會對我來說真的很重要嗎？
我真的想去嗎？
為什麼我要費盡心思去服事神呢？”
Until we learn to fully sanctify God in our hearts,
we will not be able to defend our beliefs with an honest heartfelt reply.
Instead, we will merely convey a message to nonbelievers
that we Christians are not even certain
that keeping a holy life is needed to reach God’s heavenly kingdom.
除非我們學會在自已內心完全尊神為聖，
否則我們將無法用真誠衷心的回應來捍衛自已的信仰。
相反的，我們只會向未信者傳達一個訊息：
我們身為基督徒甚至不確定，，
是否有需保持聖潔的生活才可以進入神的天國。
With God sanctified in our hearts,
however, we will always be able to answer any questions
concerning our faith and hope in God
because we can base our defense on real experiences.
The more we realize how much God means to us,
the stronger we’ll feel about living as a Christian.
若在我們心中尊神為聖，
我們就仍可時常回答任何問題，
關於自已的信仰和對神的盼望，
因為我們可以憑藉真實的體驗來為自己辯護。
我們就越能體會神對我們有多重要，
我們就越強烈能感受到成為基督徒而生活。
This way of life is not simply a religion anymore
but becomes a relationship with God that is rooted in sincere love.
Our hope is to one day spend eternity with God.
We are not just holding onto this hope with one or two fingers
but hanging on to it with our whole heart.
這種生活方式不再只是一種宗教，
而是一種根植於虔誠之愛人與神的關係。
我們的盼望是有一天能與神共度永生。
我們不只用一兩根手指抓住這個盼望，
而是全心全意的緊緊抓住。
小頁 markvmax@hotmail.com
歡迎主內同靈來信加入翻譯
Manna 嗎哪 56 (1)