這幾天我們在思想基督徒的一個傾向，就是從依靠神轉為依靠自己，而這往往是靈性倒退的原因。沒有甚麼比看見自己的子民渴望自我掌控、依賴自我更令神感到厭惡，這不是因為全能的神自負的要掌控一切，而是因為祂知道，倘若我們企圖以自己的方式生活，我們會貶低自己的身份，因而不能達成祂在我們身上的計劃和美意。我們必須面對一個事實，那就是我們沒有辦法不倚靠神，因為只有神才是獨立存在的。沒有我們，祂仍然存在，但假如沒有祂，我們就不能存在。

舊約時期的復興，是出現在以色列人的集體敬拜生活達到高峰的時候。他們承認以自己的方式生活是不行的，只有在倚靠神的時候，才能得到生活的喜樂和果效。我們從今天的經文看到神怎樣呼召祂的子民悔改，歸向倚靠祂：「當歸向耶和華，用言語禱告他。」這表示：「你們清楚明白為甚麼而悔改。」

悔改是一塊從自我掌控到歸向倚靠神的踏腳石，除此以外沒有別的方法。因此在所有復興中，悔改是問題的核心；在復興中，神強烈地向我們顯明一個真理──惟有透過悔改，才能通向與祂建立持久關係的道路。大家要謹記，歸向神是一切改變的關鍵，所有的轉變都必須包含核心的改變──遠離自我掌控，歸向倚靠永活的神。

Nothing is more abhorrent to God than to see within His people the desire for self-control and self-dependence. This is not because of any egotism in the Almighty that requires Him to be the boss, but because He knows that when we try to run our lives on our own terms we demean ourselves and fall short of His plans and purposes for us. We must face the fact that we are helplessly dependent and that God and God alone is independent. He can exist without us but we cannot exist without Him.

The periods of revival in the Old Testament came at the high peaks of corporate worship in the life of Israel, when the people acknowledged the fact that they could not successfully run their lives on their own terms but were happy and effective only to the degree that they were dependent upon God. In the chapter before us today we see how God called His people back to dependence upon Him by encouraging them to repent: "Take words with you, and return to the Lord." This means (so I believe): "Have a clear idea of what you are repenting of."

The stepping stone from independence to dependence is always repentance. There is simply no other way that it can be done. That is why in all revivals the issue of repentance becomes paramount. In revival God underlines in a dramatic way the truth that the path to a continuous relationship with Him is through repentance. Never forget this. The key to all change is in a returning to God, for every effort to change must invoke at its core a shift in direction - away from dependence on one's own resources to dependence on the living God.