神祝福你的原因
作者： J.B. Lim 翻譯：以恩
你可曾想過，在你人生中接受過的最大祝福，是你為自己辛苦計劃籌謀所得到的，或是那些神在老早就為你預備好，在你未曾要求就給你的？我不知道你怎樣想，但是對我而言，我人生中最大的祝福都不是出於我的計劃或努力而得到的。因為那些都是從神來的禮物。例如：我的雙親、我的妻子、我的兒子、我的家庭、我的朋友們、我所得到的機會、我的救恩、在天上的一席之地、罪得到赦免等等，沒有一樣是靠自己的努力去得到的。藉著這些奇妙的禮物，神向我彰顯祂的憐憫與恩慈。
為何我會如此說呢？因為在〈申命記〉第四章32-34節裡，摩西提醒以色列人，神在他們的生命中所行的那些大而可畏的事，那些不是因為他們努力，而是單純從神大愛的手裡所接受的禮物。在第35節裡，摩西指出神給這些禮物的原因："這是顯給你看，要使你知道唯有耶和華祂是神，除祂以外，再無別神"。
換句話說，不管何時神允許在你的生命裡有好的事情發生，都是為了一個特別的原因：為使你知道、信靠，相信唯有祂是神。就像一個男孩子充滿熱情地追求一個女孩一樣，上帝恩待我們，賜給我們禮物，為了愛而接近我們，希望讓我們知道祂的心意，並且希望成為我們回應的唯一對象。
這讓我想起〈創世記〉裡的一幕，當雅各要和十幾年不見的哥哥以掃見面時，他準備了許多禮物給以掃，希望能軟化以掃的心，讓他知道自己想要與他和好的心意。
同樣的，神用許多禮物祝福你，也是希望你的心能在神面前軟化下來，因而記得祂在你生命裡的重要。所有從神來的禮物都像是麵包屑，是為了帶領我們去認識那送禮物的人。
讚美神，"從祂豐滿的恩典裡，我們都領受了，而且恩上加恩"（約1:16）。但願我們不漠視這些從神來的恩惠，經常記得這些禮物是從哪裡來，以及祂送我們禮物的原因："這是顯給你看，要使你知道唯有耶和華祂是神，除祂以外，再無別神"。
The Reason God Blesses You
Written by J.B. Lim
When you think about the biggest blessings you have received in life, were the things you worked hard for and planned for yourself? Or rather were the things that God did and planned long before you ever asked for them or thought about them? I don't know about you, but for me, the greatest blessings I've ever known were things that I didn't plan for myself or work hard to achieve. Rather, they were gifts of God's grace. "Things" like my parents, my wife, my son, my family, my friends, opportunities that fell into my lap, my salvation, a place in heaven, forgiveness for my sins -- none of these were the work of my own hand. Somehow God in His mercy and grace let me receive these amazing gifts.
Why do I mention this? It's because in Deuteronomy 4:32-34 Moses reminds the Israelites of the "great and awesome deeds" (v34) that God did in their lives, things which they did not work hard for but simply received from God's loving hand. Then in verse 35 Moses tells them the reason why God gave those gifts: "that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other".
In other words, whenever God does or allows anything good in your life, He does it for a specific reason: that you would know Him, trust Him, and believe that He alone is God. Much like a guy romantically pursuing a girl, God serves us, gives us gifts and reaches out to us because He loves us, wants us to know His heart for us, and wants to be the One we reach for in return.
It reminds me of a scene in Genesis where Jacob, estranged from his brother Esau, decides that before he meets Esau face to face for the first time in decades, he would send ahead gift after gift to soften Esau's heart, to let Esau know Jacob's desire to be reconciled to him.
In a similar way, the reason why God blesses you with gift after gift and grace upon grace is because God wants your heart to be soft toward Him, that you would never forget who He is in your life. All of the gifts we have received from God are like breadcrumbs leading us to the Giver.
Praise God. "From the fullness of God's grace we have all received one blessing after another" (John 1:16). May we never take that grace for granted. May we always remember where that grace came from and why it came: it came from God so that you and I would know Him, have a relationship with Him and share Him with others.