“你们清晨早起，夜晚安歇，吃劳碌得来的饭，本是枉然。惟有耶和华所亲爱的，必叫他安然睡觉。” – 诗 127:2
你有没有试过感到自己像“一支蜡烛两头烧” － 日以继夜忙碌工作试图完成差事吗？有时我们是需要迟些睡觉来赶上最后期限的，然而缩短睡眠时间来完成所有的差事，可能是灵命出了问题的先兆。
在诗篇127篇中，以色列王所罗门提供了一些关于工作和睡眠的智慧之言。工作有成效固然重要，然而我们需要明白，假如我们只单单看重我们自己的努力，我们便会忽视了大局了。
我们需要把注意力放在神身上 – 特别是专注在衪所赐的福气上，而不是拚命去完成所有的差事。我们不应为需要完成的事苦苦挣扎，我们应该求神带领我们完成每天的工作、藉着承认我们要倚靠衪和以衪的怜悯为乐来寻求取悦衪。藉着舍下我们加在自己身上的假担子，我们便可以自由地取悦我们这位怜悯人的神了。
我们对休息的看法能够显示我们对神信靠的程度。主希望藉着睡眠、休息、和使我们重新得力来赐福给我们。纵使有时我们会睡少一点，然而我们若信靠神、在一切差事和挑战上以感恩的心事奉衪，我们便能够享受到衪赐的安息的了。
祷告
父啊，若没有你在我们生命中居首位，我们的工作也是徒然的。求你帮助我们仰望你和在你里面安息。阿们。
诗篇 127:1-2
1若不是耶和华建造房屋，建造的人就枉然劳力；若不是耶和华看守城池，看守的人就枉然警醒。
2你们清晨早起，夜晚安歇，吃劳碌得来的饭，本是枉然；唯有耶和华所亲爱的，必叫他安然睡觉。
God Gives Sleep
“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.” – Psalm 127:2
Do you ever find yourself “burning the candle at both ends”—working day and night to get something done? While there may be times when we need to stay up late to meet a pressing deadline, losing sleep to get everything done may suggest a spiritual problem.
In Psalm 127, King Solomon of Israel offers some wisdom about work and sleep. Though it’s important to be productive, we need to be aware that if we focus only on our own efforts, we miss the bigger picture.
Instead of frantically trying to get everything done, we are encouraged to focus on God—and specifically on his blessings. Instead of agonizing over all that needs to be done, we should look to God for guidance in our daily tasks, seeking to please the Lord by admitting our dependence on him and rejoicing in his compassion. By throwing off self-imposed false burdens, we are free to simply please our merciful God.
How we view rest can be a sign of our trust in God. The Lord wants to bless us with sleep, with rest, with renewal. Though there may be times when we lose sleep, if we put our trust in God and serve him with gratitude in all our tasks and challenges, we can enjoy the rest he gives.
Prayer
Father, when we work without you at the center of our lives, we work in vain. Help us to look to you and to rest in you. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳