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We have been following the lectionary through the Book of Exodus, reading the story of Moses as he leads the people of Israel of out bondage in Egypt to the mountain of God. Although the people have been freed from bondage in Egypt, they remain in bondage in hearts and minds. They persists in the habits of slavery.

This is the second week in which we hear the former slaves complaining. Last week they complained about their hunger. This week they are complaining about their thirst. They quarrel against Moses and say, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?”

The people of Israel are struggling under “a slave mentality.” For so long they lived under the authority of Egyptian masters. They have lost both the character and the discipline of freedom.

The character of freedom is the personal strength to embrace responsibility for one’s self. The character of freedom says, “My feelings are my own. My situation is my own. My happiness is my own.” It does not push responsibility for what is happening on to someone else.

The discipline of freedom is the resolve to take action. It recognizes that the world does not change unless someone changes it. It assesses the resources at its disposal and says, “What will I do now, with what I have now, to improve my condition in the world?”

The Lord calls the people out of Egypt for partnership with him. He has made covenant with their ancestors, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He has a plan for the world and will work it out through covenant partners who are willing to be faithful to his purpose.

For now, however, the people of Israel are not ready for partnership with God. They lack the character and the discipline of freedom required to act in concert with the Lord’s transforming power. They remain enslaved to habits of their mind and heart that limit them.

Habits, whether personal or institutional, are hard to break. Like the people of Israel, we become enslaved to habits that prevent us from seeing the new things God is doing in our lives and in the world.

Habits are behaviors to which we have been conditioned by our culture, environment and, most importantly, our previous practices. A habit is an archive of behavior and attitudes. An archeologist of our souls could dig down through the layers and layers of our habitual emotions, perceptions, thoughts and behaviors and tell the story of our lives. Habits express the most potent part of our legacy.

Habits help us manage our lives. They make the world predictable. They help us feel secure. But from time to time Jesus calls us out of the habits of our lives to embrace a new reality. He said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” The call to repentance is a call to transformation. It is a call out of slaveries of every kind.

The complaint is habit’s way of protesting the hard work of freedom. It was much easier for the people of Israel to escape from the land of Egypt than it was for them to escape the habits of mind and heart that undermined their freedom.