It is not easy for people to change. Thinking patterns can be so fixed that they can limit people's imagination and ability to accept change. An example is the Israelites in the wilderness, in the book of Exodus. Although they saw God's mighty deeds and experienced God’s faithful provision, they still hadn’t learnt the lesson of trusting God.
When faced with challenges and temptations, they could only follow conventional thinking, they lacked the confidence in God, and ultimately missed the blessing of entering the land of Canaan.
The failure of the Israelites is also a lesson for us. In today's church life, Christians often show two tendencies, which are worth reflecting on.
One tendency is to be busy participating in various church activities and services, and pursuing perfection to the point of exhaustion. What is worse, is that when the expected blessing is not realised, these Christians start to question God's love, envy others, and fall into the trap of bitterness.
Another tendency, in contrast, is to believe that since everything is justified by faith and God’s grace, there is no need to obey any commandments of God. Those who hold this view usually think that God's law is a restriction on their free will so they use grace as an excuse to do what they want. The result is that they do not grow in their spiritual life and they show no interest in the affairs of the kingdom of God. Their so-called spiritual life is just demonstrated by following a routine of attending church every Sunday.
Although these two tendencies appear to be opposite to each other on the surface, according to Pastor Tim Keller, they are basically the same, that is, a lack of confidence in God and a lack of knowledge of God's love. Both tendencies need to be changed.
How can we be truly changed? Rediscovering and understanding God's love may be our starting point. God’s love has existed from eternity, and it will not increase or decrease because of our good or bad behavior. At the same time, it is a free gift. For the benefit of mankind, God paid a high price in Christ and fulfilled the law. This law is not intended to limit our freedom, but comes from God’s blessing and gives us a glimpse of the glory of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 4:18-20). Only by having a comprehensive understanding of God’s love can we heal all kinds of serious and prolonged illnesses that are deep in our hearts. May God help us to experience and understand His love more, and be changed by Him in the gospel of Christ.
人要想被改變是不容易的，固有的思維模式常常限制了人的想像力和接受改變的能力。就像出埃及記裡曠野中的以色列人，雖然他們看見神的大能作為，也經歷了神信實的供應，卻仍然沒有學會信靠神的功課，面對挑戰和試探，他們只能從常規思維思考，缺乏對神的信心，最終錯失跟隨神進入迦南美地的祝福。
這些以色列人的失敗也成為我們的教訓。在今天的教會生活中，常常會有兩種傾向，值得我們反思。一種傾向表現在忙於參與教會各項活動和服事，在各樣事情上都追求表現完美，然而其結果卻是疲憊不堪。更糟糕的是，當所期待的祝福沒有實現的時候，持此態度的人會很容易質疑神的愛，嫉妒他人，落入苦毒的陷阱。另一種傾向與之相反，認為既然是因信稱義，一切都是恩典，那就不需要遵守什麼神的誡命。持此觀點者通常認為神的律法是對我們的限制，因此以享受恩典為理由我行我素。其後果可能是屬靈生命沒有成長，對神國的事情沒有興趣，信仰生活只是每週日參加教會的例行常規而已。雖然表面看起來，這兩種傾向是相互對立的，然而按照提摩太凱勒牧師（Timothy Keller）的說法，其根本是一樣的，就是缺乏對神的信心，不認識神的愛。這兩種傾向都需要被改變。
怎樣可以被真正的改變呢？重新認識和思想神的愛或許是我們的起點。神的愛從亙古就存在，並不會因為我們行為表現的好壞而增減，同時也是白白賜予，神為了人類的益處，在基督裡付上昂貴代價，完全了律法。這律法並非為了限制人的自由，而是出於神的祝福，讓我們一窺天國的榮耀（太4:18-20）。唯有深切體會神的愛，才可以醫治我們心靈深處的種種沈痾，求神幫助我們，多多的體會和明白他的愛，在基督的福音裡，被他改變。
