Our greatest privilege is to enjoy God’s presence.

与主同行，是最大的殊荣。

Whenever theraised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies. Judges 2:18

耶和华为他们兴起士师，就与那士师同在……拯救他们脱离仇敌的手。

-士师记2章18节

Around our home, the words “some assembly required” have been the cause of great frustration (mine) and great humor (my family). When my wife and I first married, I attempted to make simple home repairs—with disastrous results. A repaired shower handle worked perfectly—if the plan was for the water to run between the walls. My fiascoes continued after we had children, when I assured my wife, Cheryl, I “don’t need instructions” to put these “simple” toys together. Wrong!

在我们家里，“组装物件”总是让我感到挫败，也是家人最喜欢拿来开玩笑的话题。记得在我和妻子新婚时，我试着动手做一些简单的维修，结果带来了一场浩劫。修理好的浴室莲蓬头水流顺畅，但水却从瓷砖缝隙间喷洒出来。生儿育女后，惨痛经验更是接连不断。我曾向太太保证：“我不需要说明书，就能将这些简单的玩意儿修好！”其实是大错特错！

Gradually, I learned my lesson and began to pay strict attention to the instructions and things went together as they should. Unfortunately, the longer things went well, the more confident I became, and soon I was again ignoring instructions with predictably disastrous results.

渐渐地，我学到了教训：要严格遵守指示，才能顺利组装。但不幸的是，只要许多事物都顺利完成，我的自信心就开始膨胀。很快地，我又故态复萌，忽视指示，带来可预见的灾难。

The ancient Israelites struggled with a similar tendency: they would forget God, ignoring His instructions to avoid following after Baal and the other gods of the region (Judg. 2:12). This produced disastrous results, until God, in His mercy, raised up judges to rescue them and bring them back to Himself (v. 18).

古时的以色列人也犯了同样的错误，他们凡事顺利就忘记耶和华，忽视祂的指示，转去叩拜巴力和当地的别神 (士师记2章12节) 。这让以色列人陷在困苦之中，上帝怜悯他们，就屡次兴起士师，拯救他们脱离仇敌的手，使他们归向上帝 (2章18节) 。
 

God has reasons for all of the instructions He’s given us to keep our affections on Him. Only by a daily awareness of His loving presence can we resist the temptation to “construct” our lives our own way. What great gifts He has given us in His Word and His presence!

上帝给我们的指示和训词都有其目的，为要让我们专心跟随祂。惟有天天思想祂爱的同在，我们才能抵挡诱惑，不再随心所欲地“组装”我们的生活。祂的话语和同在，才是最美的祝福！

Lord, keep me close to You this day.

 Remind me of Your presence through Your Word

and prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

主啊！愿我更亲近祢。愿我能藉着祢的话语、
祷告和圣灵的引领，知道祢的同在。

Read:Judges 2:7-19 New International Version (NIV)

7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

7 约书亚在世和约书亚死后，那些见耶和华为以色列人所行大事的长老还在的时候，百姓都侍奉耶和华。 8 耶和华的仆人嫩的儿子约书亚，正一百一十岁就死了。 9 以色列人将他葬在他地业的境内，就是在以法莲山地的亭拿希烈，在迦实山的北边。 10 那世代的人也都归了自己的列祖。后来有别的世代兴起，不知道耶和华，也不知道耶和华为以色列人所行的事。

11 以色列人行耶和华眼中看为恶的事，去侍奉诸巴力， 12 离弃了领他们出埃及地的耶和华他们列祖的神，去叩拜别神，就是四围列国的神，惹耶和华发怒； 13 并离弃耶和华，去侍奉巴力和亚斯她录。 14 耶和华的怒气向以色列人发作，就把他们交在抢夺他们的人手中，又将他们付于四围仇敌的手中，甚至他们在仇敌面前再不能站立得住。 15 他们无论往何处去，耶和华都以灾祸攻击他们，正如耶和华所说的话，又如耶和华向他们所起的誓。他们便极其困苦。

16 耶和华兴起士师，士师就拯救他们脱离抢夺他们人的手。 17 他们却不听从士师，竟随从叩拜别神，行了邪淫，速速地偏离他们列祖所行的道，不如他们列祖顺从耶和华的命令。 18 耶和华为他们兴起士师，就与那士师同在，士师在世的一切日子，耶和华拯救他们脱离仇敌的手；他们因受欺压扰害，就哀声叹气，所以耶和华后悔了。 19 及至士师死后，他们就转去行恶，比他们列祖更甚，去侍奉叩拜别神，总不断绝顽梗的恶行。

整理：于姊妹