Ⅳ
The Bible says that at that time among God’s people, there were “great resolutions in heart,” and there were “great searchings of heart”—Judg. 5:15-16:
A
To have a great resolve is to make a firm decision, and to have a great searching is to devise a plan to live to the Lord and to live out the Lord for His up-to-date recovery in the building up of His Body, the preparation of His bride, and the ushering in of His kingdom in its manifestation—2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rom. 14:7-9; Rev. 19:7-9.
B
As Brother Lee was in the process of being oppressed by the Japanese military police in 1943, the Lord gave him a dream in which he saw the day dawn, like the dawning in the morning, with a broad highway, very bright, very straight, and stretching on boundlessly; this is the broad highway, the rising sun, and the boundless future of the Lord’s recovery—cf. Prov. 4:18.
C
We need to aspire and pray to be like those whom Deborah describes at the end of her song, which concludes in a glorious way: “May those who love Him be like the sun / When it rises in its might”—Judg. 5:31:
１
For the sun to rise in its might means that it shines brightly, brilliantly, and gloriously; if all the churches would experience the resolutions, the searchings, and the rising up to shine like the sun, they surely would enjoy the Lord as their victory.
２
The overcomers who are reconstituted with the healing Christ as the Sun of righteousness will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father—Mal. 4:2; Luke 1:78-79; Matt. 13:43.
Morning Nourishment
Judg. 5:15-16 …Among the divisions of Reuben there were great resolutions in heart….In the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.31 May all Your enemies so perish, O Jehovah. But may those who love Him be like the sun when it rises in its might…
[In Judges 5:31], for the sun to rise in its might means that it shines brightly, brilliantly, and gloriously. We need the searchings, the resolutions, and the rising up to shine like the sun. If all the churches would be like this, they surely would enjoy the victory. May all the dear saints in the Lord’s recovery have great searchings and make great resolutions, and may they all, by loving the Lord, rise up like the sun to shine brightly. (Life-study of Judges, p. 17)
Today’s Reading
The Bible says that among God’s people there were great resolutions in heart, and there were also great searchings of heart (Judg. 5:15-16). For whom did they have great resolutions and great searchings? A person of aspiration, though he lives on the earth, always turns his heart to the Lord. We should have great resolutions in heart and great searchings of heart toward God. May all the young people, starting from today, be willing to have great resolutions and great searchings of heart. To have a great resolve is to make a firm decision, and to have a great searching is to devise a plan. This is not just to have a resolve but to have a great resolve, and not just to make a plan but to make a great plan. May today be the day that you have a great resolve and make a great plan.Some may ask, “What is the purpose of having a great resolve and a great searching?” It is to live for God on the earth. The meaning of these three words living for God is quite broad. In brief, it means to receive God as your life for your entire life. God will lead you to live on the earth for Him. In other words, God will lead you to express Him on this earth by going to every place, every country, and every nation to testify on His behalf and to lead people to know Him.
I rarely have dreams when I sleep, but I had a dream one night. In the dream I held a cane in my hand and was walking peacefully until I came to a place with a steep, crooked downward slope with four steps. I went down the slope step by step, leaning on my cane, and suddenly a German shepherd dog threw itself on me. The German shepherd was the same color as that of the uniform of the Japanese military police…. I was not wounded, and in an instant the dog went away. Suddenly, when I looked ahead, there was a broad highway very straight and stretching on boundlessly, and the sun had just risen from the east. My heart then felt free and released, and seeing the broad highway, the rising sun, and the boundless, bright horizon, I strode fearlessly onward. This was my dream.
Through the dream the Lord told me, “Be at peace. You are not under the hand of the Japanese.”…I knew that the Lord still wanted me to remain on the earth, because there was a broad highway ahead, and I could just keep going on.
The past forty years that we have gone through proves that the dream has been fulfilled, and now we are still on this broad highway. At this point in time we particularly need young people to rise up and serve the Lord full time. There is nothing more glorious than serving full time. Consider this: The gaining of a million dollars cannot compare to the gaining of one soul. If we can spend several years to labor and save several thousand souls through door-knocking, and if they multiply continually, each bringing in new ones and establishing home meetings, and each maturing in life and learning the truth, how worthwhile it will be! This is the new way. This is the broad highway, the rising sun, and the boundless future. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “A Blessed Human Life,” pp. 502, 531, 535)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “A Blessed Human Life,” chs. 3,6; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 16