經文: 「懷祢胎的和乳養祢的有福了，」

一定會有人這樣想，能成為耶穌的母親，是何等殊榮，因為馬利亞生祂養祂，又住在一起，必定看到許多我們看不到的生活層面。我們不知道馬利亞是否比我們知道得多，聖經中也看不出來她比其他信徒對耶穌更了解，或許你會對此說覺得困惑，但請看一處聖經：「耶和華與敬畏祂的人親密，祂將自己的約指示他們。」（詩廿五：14）記得耶穌也曾說：「以後我不再稱你們為僕人，因僕人不知主人所作的事。我乃稱你的為朋友，因我從我父所聽見的，已經都告訴你們了。」（約十五：15）耶穌已將祂的心意告訴我們，也將天國的奧秘毫無保留地啟示我們，所以，我們不需要再羨慕馬利亞的福份，豈不知我們只要緊抓住上帝的應許，我們就一樣擁有對上帝深入的了解。啊！這是何等寶貴的應許與福份！

Morning, June 24
Scripture: “A certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”(Luke 11:27, 28)

It is fondly imagined by some that it must have involved very special privileges to have been the mother of our Lord, because they supposed that she had the benefit of looking into his very heart in a way in which we cannot hope to do. There may be an appearance of plausibility in the supposition, but not much. We do not know that Mary knew more than others; what she did know she did well to lay up in her heart; but she does not appear from anything we read in the Evangelists to have been a better-instructed believer than any other of Christ's disciples. All that she knew we also may discover. Do you wonder that we should say so? Here is a text to prove it: “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.” Remember the Master's words—“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” So blessedly does this Divine Revealer of secrets tell us his heart, that he keepeth back nothing which is profitable to us; his own assurance is, “If it were not so, I would have told you.” Doth he not this day manifest himself unto us as he doth not unto the world? It is even so; and therefore we will not ignorantly cry out, “Blessed is the womb that bare thee,” but we will intelligently bless God that, having heard the Word and kept it, we have first of all as true a communion with the Saviour as the Virgin had, and in the second place as true an acquaintance with the secrets of his heart as she can be supposed to have obtained. Happy soul to be thus privileged!