“看哪,弟兄和睦同居,是何等的善,何等的美。这好比那贵重的油,浇在亚伦的头上…” - 诗 133:1-2
神的子民的合一是一件美好的事情。圣经称其为“善和美”。
然而,“善和美”的合一并不常见。当你与其他基督徒意见相左时,你可能感觉不到与他们合一的美好。当你觉得他们对你或其他人很苛刻的时候,或者当你根本不理解他们为什么会有这样的行为和信心的时候,你可能发现自己在想,“与他们在一起怎么可能是美好的呢?”
《诗篇》133篇说,神的子民和睦同居就像油浇在祭司身上,或像甘露降在山上。这些都是以色列人认为美好的东西。而且这些都被视为来自神的恩赐。不是百姓给了祭司权力(以膏油为代表),那是神的作为。百姓也没有把甘露放在山上,只有神才能这样做。
同样地,我们不能靠自己的努力创造基督徒的合一。只有耶稣的恩典才能使我们在基督徒群体中彼此合一。
我们知道,我们每个人都是靠耶稣的恩典才得救。这意味着我们没有一个人配得上救赎,但我们还是得到了救赎。我们可以靠着这种恩典的力量和睦同居。
祷告
满有恩典的神,基督徒的合一是你的赏赐,请向我显明它的美好、优雅。让我与耶稣和所有跟随祂的人合而为一。阿们。
诗篇 133篇
1看哪,弟兄和睦同居是何等地善,何等地美!
2这好比那贵重的油浇在亚伦的头上,流到胡须,又流到他的衣襟。
3又好比黑门的甘露降在锡安山,因为在那里有耶和华所命定的福,就是永远的生命。
Beautiful Unity
"How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head. . . ." - Psalm 133:1-2
The unity of God's people is a beautiful thing. The Bible calls it "good and pleasant."
"Good and pleasant" unity is not always easy to see, however. You may not feel the beauty of unity with other Christians when you disagree with them. Or when you feel that they are cruel to you or to others. Or when you simply do not understand why they act and believe the way they do. You might find yourself thinking, "How could unity with them be beautiful?"
Psalm 133 says that the unity of God's people is like oil anointing a priest, or like dew on a mountain. Those were both considered beautiful things by the people of Israel. And those were both seen as gracious gifts from God. The people didn't give the priest his authority (represented by anointing oil); that was God's doing. And the people didn't put the dew on the mountain; only God could do that.
Similarly, we cannot create Christian unity by our own efforts. Only the grace of Jesus can unite us with each other in Christian community.
We know that each one of us is saved only by the grace of Jesus. This means that none of us deserves salvation—and yet we receive salvation anyway. We can live in unity by the power of that grace.
Prayer
God of grace, show me the beautiful and gracious gift of Christian unity. Unite me with Jesus and with all who follow him. Amen.