God is at work to make us who He intends us to be.

上帝正塑造我们，使我们合乎祂心意。

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. John 1:9

那光是真光，照亮一切生在世上的人。-约翰福音1章9节

“My perspective on earth changed dramatically the very first time I went into space,” says Space Shuttle astronaut Charles Frank Bolden Jr. From four hundred miles above the earth, all looked peaceful and beautiful to him. Yet Bolden recalled later that as he passed over the Middle East, he was “shaken into reality” when he considered the ongoing conflict there. During an interview with film producer Jared Leto, Bolden spoke of that moment as a time when he saw the earth with a sense of how it ought to be—and then sensed a challenge to do all he could to make it better.

太空人查尔斯·伯尔登（Charles Frank Bolden Jr.）曾说：“当我第一次上外太空时，我对地球的观点有了彻底的转变。”的确，从距离地球644公里的太空遥望地球，一切看来是如此的平静与美丽。然而，伯尔登后来回忆说，当太空梭飞越中东地区时，他突然醒悟回到现实，因为想到这地区正饱受战争的摧残。伯尔登在接受电影制作人杰瑞德·莱托（Jared Leto）的访谈中，提到他从太空中看着地球的那一刻，心中浮现了地球应有的样貌。这让他觉得自己有必要尽一切所能，使地球变得更好。

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the world was not the way God intended it. Into this moral and spiritual darkness Jesus came bringing life and light to all (John 1:4). Even though the world didn’t recognize Him, “to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (v. 12).

当耶稣降生于伯利恒时，世界也不是上帝想要的模样。耶稣进入这道德败坏、灵性沉沦的黑暗世界中，为世人带来生命和真光（约翰福音1章4节）。虽然世人不认识祂，但“凡接待祂的，就是信祂名的人，祂就赐他们权柄，作上帝的儿女”（12节）。

When life is not the way it ought to be we are deeply saddened—when families break up, children go hungry, and the world wages war. But God promises that through faith in Christ anyone can begin to move in a new direction.

当生活失序、脱轨，失去应有的样貌，例如家庭破碎、孩童挨饿、战火纷飞，我们会感到深切哀伤。但上帝应许我们，透过相信基督，每个人都可以有新的开始。

The Christmas season reminds us that Jesus, the Savior, gives the gift of life and light to everyone who will receive and follow Him.

这个圣诞季节让我们再次谨记，救主耶稣将生命和真光，赐给每个愿意接受并跟随祂的人。

Father in heaven, may we share the light and life of Jesus with others today.

天父，愿我们今天能与他人分享耶稣的真光和生命。

John 1:1-14New International Version (NIV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

整理：于姊妹