What Kind of Joy

 

What Kind of Joy

A young man was carefully polishing a bicycle at his doorstep.
At that moment, a young boy happened to walk by. He stopped, staring curiously at the shining bicycle. With envy in his eyes, he asked the young man,
“Sir, your bicycle must be very expensive, right?”

The young man replied,
“No, I didn’t buy it. My older brother gave it to me.”

“Oh, really?”
The boy responded in a soft, gentle voice.

As the young man continued to wipe the bicycle, he thought to himself, “He must be thinking, ‘I wish I had a brother who would buy me a bicycle too.’”
With that thought, the young man’s heart was filled with joy and gratitude for having such a brother.

Then he asked,
“Do you want a bicycle like this too?”

The boy answered,
“No, I wish I could be the kind of brother who buys a bicycle for my little brother. He has a weak heart and gets short of breath after running just a few steps. I want to buy him a beautiful bicycle, but I don’t have any money.”

The boy’s thoughts were completely opposite to the young man’s. He held a goal in his heart that was different from most people.

Many live with the joy of receiving a bicycle. But this boy lived with the joy of giving a bicycle. He understood what the joy of giving meant.

People who have donated blood are often willing to donate again.

There are two kinds of mindsets in this world: the mindset of a servant and the mindset of a master. We can choose which one to live with. When we take on the mindset of a master, we can live our whole lives as masters.

After God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, He brought them into Canaan, turning them from slaves into masters. Yet, the Israelites still complained, focusing only on the lack of water before them.

“Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all.” (Galatians 4:1)

Even though we are heirs, many of us are unaware of it because we have not accepted the mindset of a master. The master’s heart is a heart that wants to give. There is a kind of joy that comes only from giving.

When we live powerfully as masters, not as slaves, we experience this joy.

Will we live as the younger brother who always receives help, or as the older brother who gives help? Some people complain because they do not receive more, while others feel sorry because they could not give more.

John D. Rockefeller became a millionaire at 33, the richest man in America at 43, and the richest man in the world at 53. But he admitted he was not happy. At 55, he was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was told he had at most one year to live.

One day, while sitting in a wheelchair on his way to his last medical check-up, he saw a sign hanging in the hospital corridor:

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

At that moment, his heart trembled, and tears welled up in his eyes. He felt surrounded by a warm, kind atmosphere. He gently closed his eyes, lost in deep thought.

Soon, loud voices interrupted his thoughts. It was a quarrel between hospital staff and a patient’s family over medical expenses. The hospital insisted they couldn’t admit the patient without payment, while the girl’s mother pleaded tearfully.

Rockefeller immediately sent his secretary to anonymously pay their hospital bills. Not long after, the girl who received help miraculously recovered. Watching quietly from afar, Rockefeller was overwhelmed with joy.

Later, in his autobiography, he wrote:

“Until then, I had never known such happiness in my entire life.”

From that moment on, he decided to live a life of sharing. Miraculously, his illness was also healed. He devoted the rest of his life to charity work and lived until the age of 98. He once said,

“For the first 55 years of my life, I was constantly busy chasing after things. But for the next 43 years, I lived a truly happy life. To accomplish great things, do not be afraid to give up some good things.”

John the Baptist was baptizing at the Jordan River those who confessed their sins. Suddenly, his disciples came to him and said,
“The man you baptized—Jesus—is now baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.”

What they meant was:
“These people originally belonged to you. Why is He stepping into your territory and taking your followers? We must do something about this.”

From a human perspective, that reaction seems natural.

But John answered,
“A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.”

He added,

“He must become greater; I must become less.”

This is the normal mindset of a born-again Christian. The joy John had was not a worldly joy. The joy Rockefeller experienced was also not the ordinary joy this world gives.

Mature Christians understand and experience this kind of joy—the joy that comes from giving.

何种喜乐

 

有位青年正在家门口认真擦拭着一辆自行车。

这时，一位少年正好路过。他停下脚步，在一旁用好奇的眼光一直看着。少年看着闪闪发光的自行车，羡慕地问青年：

“叔叔，您这辆自行车应该很贵吧？”

青年回答道：

“不，这不是我买的，是我哥哥送我的。”

“哦，是吗？”

男孩用非常温柔的声音说道。

青年擦拭着自行车，心想那个少年肯定在想：“我要是也有个给我买自行车的哥哥就好了。”想到这里，青年感到无比喜乐，觉得自己有一个这样的哥哥特别幸福。

于是，青年随即问道：

“你也想要一辆这样的自行车吧？”

少年回答说：

“不，我希望我是那个能给弟弟买自行车的哥哥。我有个弟弟，他心脏不好，没跑两步就会气喘吁吁，我也想给他买一辆漂亮的自行车。可是我手头没钱。”

少年的想法与青年的想法截然相反。那位少年心里怀着与常人不同的目标。

许多人怀着收到自行车的喜乐而生活，可那位少年却怀着给予自行车的喜乐而生活。他知道给予的喜乐是什么。

献过血的人还会再次献血。

这世上有两种心态，一种是奴仆的心态，另一种是主人的心态。我们可以选择带着什么样的心态生活。如果接受主人的心态，那么一辈子将作为主人生活。

神将以色列百姓从埃及拯救出来之后，使他们来到迦南地。神使他们从奴仆的位置转变成了主人的位置。然而，以色列百姓仍然看着没有水的环境，抱怨不平。

“我说那承受产业的，虽然是全业的主人，但为孩童的时候却与奴仆毫无分别。”（加4:1）

我们虽身为主人，却对此全然不知，因为我们没有接受主人的心态。在主人的心态中，有想给予他人的心。有一种喜乐是因给予他人而获得的喜乐。当我们不以奴仆生活，而是以主人有力地生活时，会得到这种喜乐。

我们要成为一直得到帮助的弟弟，还是要成为给予帮助的哥哥呢？有些人抱怨没有得到更多，而有些人却因没能给予他人更多而心存歉意。

洛克菲勒在33岁时成为百万富翁，43岁时成为美国首富，53岁时成为世界首富。但洛克菲勒表示他并不幸福。55岁时，他被查出绝症，且大限将至，最多不超过一年。

他坐着轮椅，准备去做最后一次检查时，医院走廊里挂着的一副字赫然映入他的眼帘。

“施比受更为有福。”（徒20:35）

看到那句话的一瞬间，他心里不由得一颤，眼泪夺眶而出。全身被“善意的气息”笼罩着，他轻轻地闭上眼睛，陷入了沉思。

过了一会儿，他被一阵吵闹声扰醒。原来是院方和患者因住院费的问题发生了争吵。

医院方面说，他们没有医疗费不能住院，患者母亲则哭求医院通融一下。

洛克菲勒立即让秘书匿名去给他们垫付住院费。不久后，得到匿名帮助的女孩奇迹般地恢复了健康。静静地看到她恢复的洛克菲勒不知有多高兴。后来，他在自传中这样描述了那一瞬间。

“活到现在，我从来都不知道有这么幸福的生活。”

那时，他决定要过一个“分享”的生活。与此同时，他的病也神奇般地治好了。此后，直到98岁去世，他一直致力于慈善事业。他曾回忆道：

“人生前半段的55年，我一直疲于奔命，但人生后半段的43年，我却过得很幸福。为了成就伟大之事，不要害怕放弃一些美物。”

施洗约翰在约旦河边，给那些承认自己罪、走到他面前的人施以悔改的洗。忽然，门徒们过来说：“以前你给施洗的耶稣在那边给人施洗，人们都到他那里去了。”

这是什么意思呢？

“这本来都是归你的。他为什么要闯进我们的地盘，抢走追随你的人？我们必须想个对策。”

按照肉体的想法来看，这种思路似乎很正常。

但约翰说：“若不是从天上赐的，人就不能得什么。我曾说‘我不是基督，是奉差遣在他前面的’，你们自己可以给我作见证。娶新妇的就是新郎，新郎的朋友站着听见新郎的声音就甚喜乐，故此我这喜乐满足了。”

他又补充道：“他必兴旺，我必衰微。”

这就是重生的基督徒的正常心态。约翰的喜乐不是世界给予的喜乐，洛克菲勒享受的喜乐也不是世界给予的平凡的喜乐。成长的基督徒能够明白并享受这种喜乐。