感謝讚美上帝護理的大能与豐盛的供應。 本網誌內的所有資源純屬學習交流之用。

2019-01-26


賦予生命意義Giving Meaning to Life

[每日靈修] 1/25/2019駱鴻銘編譯

傳道書作者試圖回答的一個籠統問題是:「我在這個世界上度過的時間有什麼意義嗎?」我們在一個人的墓碑上記下他出生在某年某月某日,並且死於某個日期。在這兩極之間,我們活出自己的生命。這裏的基本問題是:「我的生命有意義嗎?」

在傳道書中一再迴響的共同信息是:虛空的虛空,「日光之下無新事」。要是我們在日光下的生命是以宇宙中的偶然事件開始的,是隨機碰撞和惰性物質突變的結果;要是我們的終極命運就是回到造我們的塵土,那麼,生命就是沒有任何目的的。

當我們不再從「在日光下」(under the sun)尋找我們的命運,而是「在天堂下」(under the heaven)尋找,我們就會找到了生命的目的。我們的起源不是在「原始湯」(the primordial soup)中,而是在上帝的手中,祂塑造我們,並且將生氣吹進我們的身體。我們的命運不是歸回塵土,而是要永遠地榮耀上帝、讚美上帝。在天堂之下,我們可以找到生命的目的。如果我們以上帝為我們的起源和命運,那麼這兩極之間就有了目的和意義。

作者以一個響亮的「是的!」來回答這個問題。我們的生命是有原因的。我們的苦難和傷痛是有原因的。我們的快樂也是有原因的。

活在神的面光中(在神面前禱告):
你活「在日光下」還是「在天堂下」?你找到生命真正的目的和意義了嗎?

進一步研讀:
傳二22 人在日光之下勞碌累心,在他一切的勞碌上得著什麼呢?
提後一89 你不要以給我們的主作見證為恥,也不要以我這為主被囚的為恥;總要按神的能力,與我為福音同受苦難。神救了我們,以聖召召我們,不是按我們的行為,乃是按祂的旨意和恩典;這恩典是萬古之先,在基督耶穌裏賜給我們的。
傳十二13 這些事都已聽見了,總意就是:敬畏神,謹守祂的誡命,這是人所當盡的本分(或作:這是眾人的本分)。

Giving Meaning to Life

The broad question that the writer of Ecclesiastes seeks to answer is, “Is there any meaning to the time that I spend in this world?” We put on a man’s tombstone that he was born on a certain date and that he died on a certain date. Between these two poles of time we live our lives. The basic question is, “Does my life have meaning?”

A common refrain echoed in Ecclesiastes is that there is futility, vanity, and “nothing new under the sun.” If our lives begin under the sun as a cosmic accident, a result of random collisions and mutations of inert matter, and if our ultimate destiny is to return to the dust that bore us, there can be no purpose.

When we cease to look “under the sun” and seek our destiny “under heaven,” we find our purpose. Our origin was not in the primordial soup but in the very hands of God, who shaped us and breathed life into us. Our destiny is not to return to dust, but to give honor and praise to God forever. Under heaven we find purpose. If we have God as our origin and as our destiny, between those poles there is purpose and meaning.

The writer answers the question with a resounding “Yes!” There is a reason for our lives. There is a reason for our suffering and a reason for our pain. There is also a reason for our joy.

Coram Deo
Are you living your life “under the sun” or “under heaven?” Have you found true purpose and meaning to life?

Passages for Further Study
Ecclesiastes 2:22
2 Timothy 1:8-9
Ecclesiastes 12:13