Home is not so much a place on a map, as it is a place to belong. God gives us that place.

家是一个上帝所赐的归属之地。

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. Genesis 28:15

我也与你同在，你无论往哪里去，我必保佑你，领你归回这地。-创世记28章15节

One year Christmas found me on assignment in a place many of my friends couldn’t locate on a map. Trudging from my worksite back to my room, I braced against the chill wind blowing off the bleak Black Sea. I missed home.

有一年圣诞节，我因工作而到了偏远的黑海地区。那天，我顶着强烈的寒风，步履维艰地从工作地点走回住宿的房间。那时候，我迫切地想念那温暖的家。

When I arrived at my room, I opened the door to a magical moment. My artistic roommate had completed his latest project—a nineteen-inch ceramic Christmas tree that now illuminated our darkened room with sparkling dots of color. If only for a moment, I was home again!

然而一打开房门，迎接我的却是个意外的惊喜。我那极具艺术天分的室友完成了他最新的创作，一棵48公分高的陶制圣诞树，正闪烁着五彩缤纷的圣诞灯，照亮了黑漆漆的房间。在那一瞬间，我仿佛回到了温暖的家！

As Jacob fled from his brother Esau, he found himself in a strange and lonely place too. Asleep on the hard ground, he met God in a dream. And God promised Jacob a home. “I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying,” He told him. “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Gen. 28:13–14).

当雅各逃离他的哥哥以扫时，他也同样置身异地，心感孤寂。他睡在坚硬的地上，在梦中遇见了上帝，而上帝应许给他一个家。上帝对他说：“我要将你现在所躺卧之地赐给你和你的后裔。……地上万族必因你和你的后裔得福。”（创世记28章13-14节）

From Jacob, of course, would come the promised Messiah, the One who left His home to draw us to Himself. “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am,” Jesus told His disciples (John 14:3).

上帝所应许的弥赛亚就是雅各的后裔。这位弥赛亚离开祂天上的家，来到世上，为要引领我们归向祂。耶稣也对门徒说：“我……必再来接你们到我那里去；我在哪里，叫你们也在那里。”（约翰福音14章3节）

That December night I sat in the darkness of my room and gazed at that Christmas tree. Perhaps inevitably I thought of the Light that entered the world to show us the way home.

在那个圣诞夜晚，我坐在幽暗的房间里，凝视着那棵闪闪发光的圣诞树。不禁想起，那道真光进入世界，为要引领我们回家。

Genesis 28:10-17New International Version (NIV)

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord,and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go,and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

创世记 28:10-17Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

雅各梦中得指示

10 雅各出了别是巴，向哈兰走去。 11 到了一个地方，因为太阳落了，就在那里住宿，便拾起那地方的一块石头枕在头下，在那里躺卧睡了。 12 梦见一个梯子立在地上，梯子的头顶着天，有神的使者在梯子上上去下来。 13 耶和华站在梯子以上，说：“我是耶和华你祖亚伯拉罕的神，也是以撒的神，我要将你现在所躺卧之地赐给你和你的后裔。 14 你的后裔必像地上的尘沙那样多，必向东西南北开展。地上万族必因你和你的后裔得福。 15 我也与你同在，你无论往哪里去，我必保佑你，领你归回这地，总不离弃你，直到我成全了向你所应许的。” 16 雅各睡醒了，说：“耶和华真在这里，我竟不知道！” 17 就惧怕，说：“这地方何等可畏！这不是别的，乃是神的殿，也是天的门。”

Lord, no matter where we are today, we can thank You for preparing a place for us to be with You. And we have the presence of Your Spirit today!

主啊，感谢祢，因为祢为我们预备了天上的家，
使我们将来能与祢同住，
而且祢的灵此时就与我们同在！

INSIGHT

Sometimes our perceptions of God get a startling adjustment. That was the case for Jacob in today’s passage. From our perspective we know through the Old and New Testament Scriptures that God is everywhere and is always with us. But Jacob’s knowledge was limited. His statement in Genesis 28:16 hints that he thought he was out of “God’s area.” How comforting it must have been to Jacob to realize that though he had left his family and his home, he was still in the presence of God.

How does knowing that God is always present comfort you?

灵粮透视

有时，我们对上帝的看法会出现惊人的改变。在今天阅读的经文中所提到的雅各，就是其中一例。从我们的角度来看，透过旧约和新约圣经便可得知上帝无所不在，并始终与我们同在，但雅各却对此所知不多。我们可以从创世记28章16节的描述，看出雅各以为自己已经离开了“上帝的领域”。后来雅各才明白，尽管自己离开了家人和家乡，但上帝仍然与他同在，相信这带给了他极大的安慰。

知道上帝永远与我们同在，如何让你得着安慰呢？

整理：于姊妹