Brushwood And Gall

The story of brushwood and gall is one of the favorite stories that can be found in every curriculum of formative education in Chinese culture. About 2500 years ago in China, Goujian, the king of Yue was captured by Fuchai, king of Wu, and was forced to serve at Fuchai’s horse manger as a slave. His diligence and pretended servility won his freedom three years later. Upon returning to his kingdom, every night he slept on brushwood and every morning he tasted the bitter gall, to remind himself of his humiliation and to motivate himself for a revenge. Sure enough, he later mobilized a well-trained army and destroyed the kingdom of Wu. This story in “The Book of History” has since inspired everyone who seeks a revenge to live a lifestyle of brushwood and gall. Not just for avengers, but also for those who have any ambitions in life, they are inspired as well by the brushwood and gall as well. Indeed, anyone who feels his life as terrible as a horse slave and wants a change, would know exactly where to get started: his bed and his breakfast. This brushwood and gall story has since become the standard motivational story for all Chinese school children.


In such a time of global competition, many people have found fresh inspiration from this ancient story of “no pain no gain”. Chinese parents often push their children to suffer pain in developing talents, the more the better. Live a life of brushwood and gall may help develop some talents, but the end product may be a person of high skill with mean spirit. They are fierce fighters and not gentle lovers. They may be competitive in business, but hurtful in relationship. This kind of training may not help them win this life, as it is written, under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. (Eccl. 9:11 ESV) Worse yet, this training will push them deeper into sin, and farther away from the kingdom of God. For God does not value your talent and your skill, but your capacity to love and to forgive.


God does not command us to a life of ease. Anyone who does not work hard and suffer pain would certainly waste his life away. Without the story of brushwood and gall, how can we be motivated to suffer in life? Do you know we Christians are called to suffer too? Apostle Paul told the Philippian church, For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, (Phil. 1:29 ESV) The cross is the business card for Christ, the visible sign of His church, and the mark of pain and suffering. Comparing to the pain on the cross, the pain from brushwood and gall is like a piece of sweet cake. Here is the real difference between the two: The self-inflicted limited pain of brushwood and gall is for preparation of assault, and once make the kill and let opponent suffer loss, then the breakfast menu would be permanently switched from gall to donuts. The pain of brushwood and gall is to stoop and conquer and self-serving in the end. Meanwhile, the pain of the cross is just the opposite, it is self-denial for the benefit of another and pain even unto death. When people hear about the story of brushwood and gall, they all want to taste gall. When people hear the story of the cross, how many would want to taste this cup?


When Christ first drank this cup for the world, this is His prayer, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39 ESV) Self-denial is to submit oneself to the One above. Since Christ has blazed the trail, more and more people are walking on this way of cross. They are easy to spot, because they are willing suffer pain, even more than those brushwood and gall motivators, yet they have nothing to contend for in this life, as they yield all rights to all people. We are willing to be a hiker on this way of cross, because we believed the word of Christ: Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (Jn. 12:25 ESV)

Prayer: O Lord! Thank you for calling us out of the march of brushwood and gall, and to follow you on this way of cross! Help us go from strength to strength, grace upon grace, that we shall run and not be weary, we shall walk and not faint!

卧薪尝胆

在我们中国人的启蒙教育中，都少不了卧薪尝胆这个故事。讲的是两千五百年前的越王勾践兵败被掳，给吴王夫差当了三年马夫。回国之后，早晨起来先尝一下苦胆，提醒自己发奋图强，励精图治，后来终于起兵灭了吴国。《史记》中的这个故事就让一切苦大仇深的人，都走上了卧薪尝胆这条路。就算夫差不是你的仇人，只为能取代他做吴王，有人也愿意卧薪尝胆。就算找不到夫差这样的靶子，但觉得自己活得就像给别人当马夫一样苦，为了翻身解放，你也会一边养马，一边卧薪尝胆。总而言之，卧薪尝胆似乎成了放之四海而皆准的励志榜样。


在这个充满竞争的时代，让这条“吃得苦中苦，方为人上人”的古训更加焕发青春。华人父母一向催逼儿女苦练才艺，恨不得他们十八般兵器样样都精通。但卧薪尝胆固然可以逼人练出些硬功夫，但也很容易练成武功高强却心胸狭窄的人。他们爱人很困难，但伤人却很在行。当他们练出事业上的竞争力的同时，也练就了人际关系中的杀伤力。这样的实力，并不能保证他们在地上得胜。如经上所记，日光之下，快跑的未必能赢，力战的未必得胜，智慧的未必得粮食，明哲的未必得赀财，灵巧的未必得喜悦。所临到众人的，是在乎当时的机会。【传九11】更加得不偿失的，是让他们在罪中陷得更深，离天国更远。因为神所看重的，不是你的杀伤力，而是你爱和饶恕的能力。


贪图安逸，不愿吃苦的人，肯定会虚度光阴。但是若不用卧薪尝胆来励志，人从哪里能找到吃苦的动力呢？你知道我们基督徒被呼召出来就是为了吃苦的吗？使徒保罗对腓立比教会说，因为你们蒙恩，不但得以信服基督，并要为他受苦。【腓一29】十字架是基督的名片，是教会的标志，是受苦的记号。和钉十字架的苦头比起来，卧薪尝胆的味道绝对像一盘甜点。更大的区别在于，卧薪尝胆是逼自己吃小苦头，功夫练成，让对头吃下大苦头之后，就把自己的早餐从苦胆换成甜甜圈。所以卧薪尝胆的实质，是以退为进，高举自我。但十字架正好相反，是舍己救人，让自己吃苦吃到了极限。听过卧薪尝胆的故事，人人都想尝苦胆；听到十字架的故事，谁愿喝下这样的苦杯呢？


当基督为世人喝下这杯时，他曾祷告说，我父阿，倘若可行，求你叫这杯离开我。然而不要照我的意思，只要照你的意思。【太廿六39】舍己就是顺服比自己大的。自从基督开了头，就开始有人走上这条十字架的道路。这样的人很容易辨认，因为他们自找苦吃，比卧薪尝胆的人更甚，可却与世无争，处处甘拜下风。我们愿意成为这样的人，是因为相信基督的道：爱惜自己生命的，就失丧生命。在这世上恨恶自己生命的，就要保守生命到永生。【约十二25】


祷告：主啊，谢谢你把我们从卧薪尝胆的路上叫出来，让我们掉头跟从基督走上这条十字架的路。求主恩上加恩，力上加力，让我们奔跑却不困倦，行走却不疲乏！

The Remedy Is Worse Than the Evil

Summer is here, and the shops that sell cold drinks will be running at full steam. The hotter the day is, the better their sales will be. You may notice a new trend in popular tea house, customers must go through several steps to customize their order to suite their unique taste. This could be a daunting task for an occasional customer like me. I always nervously navigate through the multiple-choice questions. When I finally hold the cup in my hand and sip it in, the final product is always falling short of my expectation. Do you know what your favorite drink is? Affluent and comfort life tend to make us picky, yet the pickiness is more of an attitude than a real thing, as pointed out by Chinese philosopher Laozi, “The five colors confuse the eye, the five sounds dull the ear, the five tastes spoil the palate.” In a desert tavern, weary travelers would skip all the fancy drinks and only go for water. It would be better with ice, but no other flavoring and coloring would be necessary.


When people choose spiritual drinks, they face the same temptations. In this age of internet, many people depend their lives on social media apps such as Wechat. There are all sorts of news, inside reports, and sharing, with topics ranging from stars to cell, from heaven to hell, with information from birth to death, from politics to entertainment, with opinions from left to right, from bizarre to funny, you name it and they have it. As soon as you log onto Wechat, you become a billionaire in information, you can get what you want and when you want it. Whether you want to be entertained, be comforted, or be inspired, you can customize the feed. If you not only enjoy browsing, but also posting your own stuff and commenting on others’ post, then these social media apps truly become your spiritual tea house, you are both the customer, and the owner, and the waiter of this shop. What a busy life! It would be unthinkable to live without them. The question is, of all the things you take in from the shop, which one is the necessary water for life?


The first Psalm opens with these words, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Ps. 1:1-2 ESV) This is a sharp contrast between black and white, but we often live in the grey zone of life. Besides God’s water station and sinner’s tavern, can we hang out somewhere else? Even on the social media there are tons of spiritual resources and opportunities to share the gospel, why not embrace it? Virtual reality is much more crowded than real life. By exposing yourself to overwhelming information, the warning from Psalm 1 about information filtering becomes even more relevant. Logging onto the social media is like walking into a fancy tea house, with all the colorful fancy drinks for sale, along with pure water. How many times would you settle for a cup of water and go? If you borrow a corner at this tea house and set up your own stand selling pure water, don’t expect any crowd. Rather, you should haul your water outside and sell them to weary travelers, your iced cold water would go at a much faster pace. Sinners by nature have no taste for God’s word. Social media apps like Wechat can take the whole world and present it to you on your palm. If we do not purposely distance ourselves from them, we will become friends with them, but Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? (Jas. 4:4 ESV) On the market for spiritual nourishment, except for the pure Word of God, all the rest remedies are worse than the evil. It is indeed a sharp contrast between black and white.


When God let Moses lead Israelites out of Egypt, He did not lead them to the promise land right away but took them wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In that forty years, God fed them with manna from heaven and they had food out of this world. God purposely blocked their access to Egypt Daily and Canaan Forum, but gave them the Law of the Lord from Mount Sinai, so that they can meditate on it day and night and prepare themselves to enter the promise land. As Christians, the life we live this side of heaven is a life through the same spiritual wilderness. If you delight in this world through Wechat, how can you delight in the Word of God? These two are always at odds with each other, and every day we must feed on the Word of God. When one’s delight in the Bible itself, exceeds that of other spiritual books or other people’s testimonies and devotional writings (this author included), then Blessed is the man, He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Ps. 1:1, 3 ESV)

Prayer: O Lord! Make us hunger and thirst after righteousness. Let us shun the voices from this word but tune in to Your Word. Let Your Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path!

饮鸩止渴

夏天到了，各家冷饮店铺火力全开，天越热生意越红火。你若留心，就会发现在新兴的冷饮店里，顾客必需经过好几道程序来量身订制自己的理想饮料，因为每个人的口味都不一样。令人眼花缭乱的选择总会让像我这样的生客不知如何下单。好不容易过五关，斩六将，最后拿到手上，喝进嘴里，却往往和理想有相当的差距。你最喜欢喝的饮料是什么味道？富裕而舒适的生活常会让人的口味变得挑剔起来，但挑来挑去却不知道最后该挑什么了。这就是老子说的，“五色令人目盲，五音令人耳聋，五味令人口爽。” 如果是在沙漠中的驿站开冷饮店，保证没人去点那些花里胡哨的饮品，大家都会只要水喝，当然有冰就更好，但其他的味道和颜色就免了。


人们为自己选择精神食粮，也会落入类似的陷阱。在这个互联网时代，许多人的生活离不了微信这类社交软件。里面有各种消息、通报、分享、天文地理，气功养生，旅游美食，育儿养老，高人高论，俗人俗话，真是应有尽有。打开手机，你就是资讯的百万富翁，一定能找到合你胃口的文章，无论是排遣寂寞、是寻找安慰、是增长学问，都能按自己的口味来量身订制，随心所欲。如果你不但享受浏览的乐趣，也喜欢时常发表一下高见，还时不时给喜欢的人捧捧场，给讨厌的人拍拍砖，那么这个微信就是你的精神茶馆。你在里面又当老板又当顾客又当店小二，真是不亦乐乎，实在难以想象没有微信的日子怎么过。但在这些让人眼花缭乱的各式心灵饮料中，什么才是必不可少的生命之水呢？


圣经诗篇中的头一首歌唱到，不从恶人的计谋，不站罪人的道路，不坐亵慢人的座位。惟喜爱耶和华的律法，昼夜思想，这人便为有福。【诗一1-2】这是黑白分明的对照，但我们的生活好像是灰色的。难道在神的供水站和罪人的茶馆之外，就别无选择吗？在社交媒体上也有很多属灵资源，也可以见证福音，有什么不妥呢？网路世界是一个比真实生活更加拥挤的空间，活在高强度的信息轰炸之下，诗篇中择善而从的警告就显得更加重要。当你上网，就像是走进一家新潮的冷饮店，里面出售各式眼花缭乱的饮料，还有白水。有多少次你会买杯白水就走呢？如果你要在里面租个摊位，专卖白水的话，你的生意一定冷清。倒不如带上你的冰水，到烈日之下去推销，你的水一定畅销。神的律法天生不入罪人的法眼。微信这类社交工具的功能就是把世俗一网打尽，然后送到你手掌上。我们若不刻意远离世俗，就必与世俗为友，岂不知与世俗为友，就是与神为敌吗？【雅四4】在精神粮食的市场上，除了神那纯一不杂的道，别的都是饮鸩止渴，就是这样的黑白分明！


神让摩西把以色列人带出埃及，并没有马上领他们进到迦南地，却让他们在旷野漂流了四十年。这四十年他们只吃天上降下的吗哪为生，这是真正的不食人间烟火。神刻意让他们远离埃及日报和迦南论坛，却在西奈山上赐下神的律法，让他们可以昼夜思想，预备好进入应许之地。我们基督徒在世的每一天都是在走这条属灵的旷野路。如果你的微信中充满了人间烟火味，你绝不能专心神的道，因为这两者是殊途不同归！我们每天必需要读的，就是神的话。当一个人对圣经本身的喜爱程度，超过其他的属灵参考书，超过别人的见证，超过任何人（本人在内）所写的灵修短文，这人便为有福。他要像一棵树栽在溪水旁，按时候结果子，叶子也不枯干。凡他所作的，尽都顺利。【诗一2-3】


祷告：主啊，求你给我们饥渴慕义的心，让我们回避这世界的杂音，单单羡慕你的话语。愿你的话每天成为我们脚前的灯和路上的光！