Beneath all our longings is a deep desire for God.

 我们一切的追求都源于对上帝的渴望。

[God] has . . . set eternity in the human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11

上帝……将永生安置在世人心里。-传道书3章11节

We had a West Highland Terrier for a number of years. “Westies” are tough little dogs, bred to tunnel into badger holes and engage the “enemy” in its lair. Our Westie was many generations removed from her origins, but she still retained that instinct, put into her through years of breeding. On one occasion she became obsessed by some “critter” under a rock in our backyard. Nothing could dissuade her. She dug and dug until she tunneled several feet under the rock.

多年来，我们饲养了一只西高地小猎犬，这种猎犬小而精悍，善于刨挖地道、直捣獾的洞穴，将獾逮个正着。我们的小猎犬虽然已远离正统血源，但它深植的本能却丝毫未减。有一次，它被我们后院石头下的“小东西”给吸引住了，就一心要找到它，任谁也阻止不了它。它拼命在石头下方不断地挖啊挖的，甚至挖出一条几公尺长的地道。

Now consider this question: Why do we as humans pursue, pursue, pursue? Why must we climb unclimbed mountains, ski near-vertical slopes? Run the most difficult and dangerous rapids, challenge the forces of nature? Part of it is a desire for adventure and enjoyment, but it’s much more. It’s an instinct for God that has been implanted in us. We cannot not want to find God.

试想：我们人类为何也会不断地追寻呢？为何我们总想攻克尚未攀登的山岭、在几近垂直的陡坡上滑雪？为何要越过最艰险的急湍，挑战大自然的威力？其中一个原因，或许是我们渴望追求冒险与刺激，但却不仅如此。那是上帝深植在我们内心的本能，使我们不得不渴望追寻祂。

We don’t know that, of course. We only know that we long for something. “You don’t know what it is you want,” Mark Twain said, “but you want it so much you could almost die.”

当然，我们对此一无所知，只知道自己总是不断在追寻。马克吐温说：“你不知道自己要的是什么，但你会为了心中的渴求，不惜付上生命的代价。”

God is our heart’s true home. As church father Augustine said in that most famous quotation: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

上帝才是我们心灵真正的安歇之所。就如人们常引用教父奥古斯丁所说的那句话：“主啊，祢为自己造了我们，我们的心除非在祢里面，否则永无安息。”

And what is the heart? A deep void within us that only God can fill.

什么能满足我们的心呢？你我心中的空洞，唯有上帝才能填满。

Help me, Lord, to recognize my deep longing for You. Then fill me with the knowledge of You. Draw me near.

主啊，求祢让我看见，祢才是我心所切慕的。
恳求祢让我更认识祢，使我与祢更亲近。

INSIGHT

Ecclesiastes was written by one who calls himself “the Teacher” and identifies himself as the “son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1). In this book, Solomon shows that a life not centered on God is without meaning and purpose (1:14; 2:11). He also shows how and why God must be a part of our lives. In chapter 3, he paints a picture of a life trapped between birth and death, experiencing the mundane repetition of life’s recurring seasons and cyclical activities (vv. 1–8). Such a life is both frustrating and burdensome (v. 10). But Solomon hints that life is not supposed to be like this. We were made for far grander things—God created us for Himself “in his own image” (Gen. 1:27). And God has “set eternity in the human heart” (Eccl. 3:11). We were created for fellowship with the eternal God. C. S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, put it this way: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” Without God, life will be purposeless and meaningless.

What are some ways that our culture offers false fulfillment?

Sim Kay Tee

灵粮透视

传道书的作者，自称为“传道者”，且表明自己是“大卫的儿子”，并“在耶路撒冷作王”（1章1节）。所罗门在这本书卷中表明，人的一生若不以上帝为中心，将毫无意义、毫无目的（1章14节，2章11节）。他还表明，上帝如何及为何必须成为我们生命中的一部分。在第3章，所罗门描绘了人的一生困在生与死之间，反复经历各样的境况，并重复周期性的活动（1-8节）。这样的人生既令人沮丧，又让人不堪负荷（10节）。但所罗门隐晦地指出，我们的人生本不应如此。我们受造乃是有更伟大崇高的意义，上帝“照祂自己的形像”创造了我们，是为了祂自己（创世记1章27节）；上帝已经把“永生安置在世人心里”（传道书3章11节）；我们受造是为要与永恒的上帝建立关系。鲁益师在他的著作《返璞归真》一书中写道：“如果我发现自己有一种渴求，是世界的一切经历都无法满足的，最可能的解释就是，我受造乃是为了另一个世界。”没有上帝，生命将会变得毫无意义、毫无目的。

这个世界给了我们哪些虚假的满足感呢？

整理：于姊妹