April 16

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed." (Heb. 11:8)

Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for him to know that he went with God. He leant not so much upon the promises as upon the Promiser. He looked not on the difficulties of his lot, but on the King, eternal, immortal¹, invisible, the only wise God, who had deigned² to appoint his course, and would certainly vindicate³ Himself. O glorious faith! This is thy work, these are thy possibilities; contentment to sail with sealed orders, because of unwavering confidence in the wisdom of the Lord High Admiral; willinghood to rise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of the glad assurance that earth's best cannot bear comparison with Heaven's least. --F. B. M.

It is by no means enough to set out cheerfully with your God on any venture of faith. Tear into smallest pieces any itinerary⁴ for the journey which your imagination may have drawn⁵ up.

Nothing will fall out as you expect.

Your guide will keep to no beaten path. He will lead you by a way such as you never dreamed your eyes would look upon. He knows no fear, and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.

The day had gone; alone and weak

I groped my way within a bleak⁶

And sunless land.

The path that led into the light

I could not find! In that dark night

God took my hand.

He led me that I might not stray,

And brought me by a new, safe way

I had not known.

By waters still, through pastures green

I followed Him--the path was clean

Of briar and stone.

The heavy darkness lost its strength,

My waiting eyes beheld⁷ at length

The streaking⁸ dawn.

On, safely on, through sunrise glow

I walked, my hand in His, and lo,

The night had gone.

--Annie Porter Johnson.

　 四月十六日

“亚伯拉罕因着信，蒙召的时候，就遵命出去往将来要得为业的地方去”（来十一：8）。

　　他往哪里去，他不知道；他只知道神和他同去，这就够他放心了。他对于所得的应许，虽然不顶清楚，但是他对于赐应许的应许者，已够清楚了。他不看前面的难处，只看那全能，全智，公义，信实，永远活着的神。这样的一位神既安排了他的路程，当然不会和他儿戏的。哦，这是荣耀的信心！你也可以作得到的。当他打发你出去的时候，虽然路线还未显明，但是你尽可信任那打发者——天地之主，宇宙之神。起来吧，放下自己的一切，跟从主，因为地上顶好的还不堪与天上顶坏的一比。——梅尔

　　光是欢欢喜喜地和主一同出发冒信心的险，还不足够；还当把你自己所计划的路程表撕得粉碎。

　　没有一件事会照你所意料的实现。

　　你的向导知道怎样引领你前进。他将领你走一条你所梦想不到的路径。他不知道惧怕，他也希望你因着他的同在不知惧怕。——选

白天已去，我孤单困疲，

在阴暗中摸索路径，

我问：何处是光明？

神握着我的手前进。

他引导我，免我走入歧途，

这是陌生安全的新路，

经过了幽静的溪流与绿野，

没有石砾和荆棘阻我脚步。

黑暗失去了原有的力量，

终于盼望到一线曙光，

他握着我平安前进，

朝晖渐现，黑夜已遁。

——强逊

1 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

2 deigned   

v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Carrie deigned no suggestion of hearing this. 嘉莉不屑一听。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Carrie scarcely deigned to reply. 嘉莉不屑回答。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 vindicate   

v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确

参考例句：

• He tried hard to vindicate his honor.他拼命维护自己的名誉。
• How can you vindicate your behavior to the teacher?你怎样才能向老师证明你的行为是对的呢？

4 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

7 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

8 streaking   

n.裸奔（指在公共场所裸体飞跑）v.快速移动( streak的现在分词 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• Their only thought was of the fiery harbingers of death streaking through the sky above them. 那个不断地在空中飞翔的死的恐怖把一切别的感觉都赶走了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Streaking is one of the oldest tricks in the book. 裸奔是有书面记载的最古老的玩笑之一。 来自互联网