Dec 26

"Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder" (Matt. 26:36)

It is a hard thing to be kept in the background at a time of crisis. In the Garden of Gethsemane eight of the eleven disciples were left to do nothing. Jesus went to the front to pray; Peter, James and John went to the middle to watch; the rest sat down in the rear to wait. Methinks that party in the rear must have murmured. They were in the garden, but that was all; they had no share in the cultivation of its flowers. It was a time of crisis, a time of storm and stress; and yet they were not suffered to work.

You and I have often felt that experience, that disappointment. There has arisen, mayhap a great opportunity for Christian service. Some are sent to the front; some are sent to the middle. But we are made to lie down in the rear. Perhaps sickness has come; perhaps poverty has come; perhaps obloquy has come; in any case we are hindered and we feel sore. We do not see why we should be excluded from a part in the Christian life. It seems like an unjust thing that, seeing we have been allowed to enter the garden, no path should be assigned to us there.

Be still, my soul, it is not as thou deemest! Thou art not excluded from a part of the Christian life. Thinkest thou that the garden of the Lord has only a place for those who walk and for those who stand! Nay, it has a spot consecrated to those who are compelled to sit.

There are three voices in a verb━active, passive and neuter. So, too, there are three voices in Christ's verb "to live." There are the active, watching souls, who go to the front, and struggle till the breaking of the day. There are the passive, watching souls, who stand in the middle, and report to others the progress of the fight. But there are also the neuter souls━those who can neither fight, nor be spectators of the fight, but have simply to lie down.

When that experience comes to thee, remember, thou are not shunted. Remember it is Christ that says, "Sit ye here." Thy spot in the garden has also been consecrated. It has a special name. It is not "the place of wrestling," nor "the place of watching," but "the place of waiting." There are lives that come into this world neither to do great work nor to bear great burdens, but simply to be; they are the neuter verbs. They are the flowers of the garden which have had no active mission. They have wreathed no chaplet; they have graced no table; they have escaped the eye of Peter and James and John. But they have gladdened the sight of Jesus. By their mere perfume, by their mere beauty, they have brought Him joy; by the very preservation of their loveliness in the valley they have lifted the Master's heart. Thou needst not murmur shouldst thou be one of these flowers! ━Selected

十二月二十六日

"你们坐在这里，等我到那边去祷告。"（太廿六:36）

　在一个危急的时候，被遗留在后面，是一件非常难堪的事情。在客西马尼园里，十一个门徒里面，有八个被留在后面不做甚么。主耶稣往前面去祷告：彼得、雅各、约翰在中间儆醒，其余的在后面等着。照我想来，在后面的门徒必定会抱怨。他们虽在花园里面却不过只在花园里面罢了；他们对于花园里面花草的耕种，无分无关。那时正是一个危急的时候，一个紧要的关头；可是他们又不能擅自妄动。

　　你和我也常有这种经历、这种失望。也许现在正有许多机会给基督徒工作。有的弟兄姐妹已经到前方去了；有的弟兄姐妹已经到中间去了，只有我们仍留在后方伏着。或者因着疾病；或者因着缺乏；或者因着诽谤；无论因着什么，我们受到拦阻，心中非常悲痛。我们不明白为甚么我们不能有分于主的工作。这似乎是一件非常不公平的事情━既然允许我们进了花园，又不在花园里分派我们工作。

　　我的魂哪，应当安静，事情并不照你所想的那样悲痛！你并不是无分于主的工作；你想主的花园里只有走的地方、立的地方么？不，里面来有一个地方，是专为那些不得不坐的人预备的。

　　一个动字，有三个位格（Voices）━施事格（Active），受事格（Passive），不及物格（Neuter）。为基督活着的"活"字，也有三个位格。施事格━往前方去奋斗。受事格━站在中间报告前方战事的进展。不及物格━既不能打仗，又无能看仗，只能伏在后方。

　　如果今天你正伏在后方的话，请你记得，对你说："你坐在这里"的，是主。你所坐的地方并不是"摔跤处"，也不是"儆醒处"，乃是"等候处"。有许多人神把他们放在世上，并不是要他们成功伟大的事业，也不是要他们背负重大的担子，乃是要他们单单活着；他们是不及物动字。他们是没有使命的花。他们用不着包扎花圈，他们用不着点缀食桌。他们虽没有彼得、雅各布、约翰看见，他们却已经叫主耶稣喜悦了。他们的香气、他们的美丽，已够叫主喜乐了。亲爱的，如果你正是这一朵花，请你不要抱怨。━选
关键字:荒漠甘泉
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