以道判斷工作的價值,順服在上帝眼中最寶貴。

撒上15:22
耶和華喜悅燔祭和平安祭,豈如喜悅人聽從他的話呢?
聽命勝於獻祭;順從勝於公羊的脂油。


順服在上帝眼中具有最高價值。為了看出人是否順服,上帝把順服藏在工作之下,無論工作大小,工作的性質在上帝面前都是一樣。上帝不考慮工作的差別,僅在乎人是否順服,在乎順服的價值。
但愚昧人的聰明總是以為工作比道更重要,通常以工作的價值大小判斷。在無價值的工作,或工作低下的地方,立刻判定道是無價值的,或低下的。由此,他就輕視道。
屬靈人總是注重道,用道來判斷和衡量工作的價值。即使一件工作可能是所有工作中最無價值,屬靈人卻認為是最寶貴的,因為他總是認定道是所有事情中最寶貴的。
譬如:古時魔鬼欺騙夏娃,說:「上帝真說過嗎?(創3:1)」 夏娃立刻看到工作的貧乏,就輕視道了。掃羅也以為許多動物比上帝的命令更重要(撒母耳記上15)。以工作為義的人也只追求那些偉大的工作。這就認出他們是不信的人!——馬丁路德(AE 25:408)

Estimates The Work With the Word
Obedience is the Most Precious in God’s Eyes


1 Samuel 15:22
Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.


God hides this most precious obedience equally under great and lesser works, nor does He consider the difference between works, but only the value of obedience. Thus the prudence of the foolish always regards the work as more important than the Word and weighs and estimates the worth of the Word in terms of the worth and nonworth of the works. And where the work is lowly, it immediately regards and despises the Word as lowly. For the 「prudence of the flesh」 still lives which discerns between good and evil. It was born from the first sin from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
On the other hand, the prudence of spiritual men knows neither good nor evil but always looks to the Word and not to the work, and weighs and estimates the dignity of the work on the basis of the Word, where even if the work is the lowliest of all, yet this prudence values it as most precious, for he always puts the highest value on the Word.
By this trickery the ancient serpent deceived Eve, but not Adam; and to this day he is fooling all proud men. For he immediately called Eve away from the Word to works by saying: 「Did God say, etc.?」 Then when she had begun to look at the meagerness of her work, she also began to despise the Word. In the same way Saul also neglected the Word of God because of the great number of his sacrifices; thus to this day the work-righteous hope to have so much the greater salvation as they have done greater works, recognized as they are by that most certain sign of being unbelievers. (AE 25:408)