Imaginary vs. Reality

Zoo animals that have spent most of their lives in cages, pacing back and forth, when released into the larger open areas of a more modern zoo have been known to limit themselves to a small area the size of their former cage, pacing back and forth in the same restricted space, but it's an imaginary space. It's not reality. They could be free to roam about, but the years of confinement have shaped their mentality and therefore their behavior.  So it was for most who came out of Egypt.

Remember, when we were born naturally, we were born "spiritually dead" and we didn't know the things of God (see 1 Cor. 2:14). We didn't know the kindness of God. Some of us had some pretty good families with pretty good parents and siblings, but some of us did not. It can be a pretty cruel world out there with peer pressure and dysfunctional families and we all learn how to survive. Apart from God, it's a dog eat dog world and that's what we all were - we were apart from God. But now we have been brought near by the blood of Christ (see Col. 1:20, Eph. 2:13).  [Excerpt from Gates: Thanksgiving Papers, page 91-92]