A boy often visited his grandparent's farm during the summer. He loved to wander around in the large back yard and nearby woods, and to eat the grapes growing in the garden. Many times he would pick the grapes to see if they were ripe. They usually were not. And he would return to the house, sit down at the table, and ask his grandmother to help him get rid of the sour taste in his mouth. Her answer was always the same. She would give the boy a swallow of wine. It was sweet and took care of the problem without clashing with the sour grape taste. It simply removed it and brought refreshment.
Jesus has a similar, but greater, cure. When we have been eating the "sour grapes" of our sinful thoughts and actions and want to be forgiven, He invites us to His table. He removes our sin and guilt by giving us His bread and wine. He covers our many failures to renew us and strengthen us for living. He frees us from the bitterness of our disobedience and foolishness. We are new creations. | .. | 字彙
1. wine 葡萄酒
2. clash 衝突
3. strengthen 堅固
4. disobedience 悖逆、不順服
夏天裡男孩常到祖父母的農場去玩，他喜歡在寬大的後院和附近的樹林裡徘徊，也喜歡吃園裡長的的葡萄。他一次次摘下葡萄，試試看成熟了沒有。常常葡萄還未成熟，他會回到屋裡，在桌邊坐下，央求祖母幫他把嘴裡的酸味去掉。祖母的解決辦法從來都是一個樣兒。她會給男孩喝一口葡萄酒，酒是甜的，解決了問題，卻不和酸葡萄的味道相衝，反倒是除了酸味，帶來清新。
耶穌有一種類似卻更偉大的療法。當人因自己有罪的思想行動而吃了「酸葡萄」，想要得到饒恕，祂邀請我們到祂的桌前。祂把餅與酒(譯按：代表耶穌的身體與寶血)給我們來除掉我們的罪。祂不看我們的許多失敗，更新堅固我們繼續而活。祂把我們從悖逆愚昧的苦味中釋放，成為新造的人。
思考與應用
1. 當我們做錯事或得罪了人，會很想除掉那種難過的感覺，通常會怎麼做？
2. 如果耶穌的偉大療法能讓我們的酸味苦味變成甜味，你願意嚐嚐看嗎？ |
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