阅读经文 

生活中并不是只有重大事件才会带来最大的影响。生活中的小事或邂逅往往也能很深地塑造我们，改变我们的生活。比如说，我还能想起那些简短的、计划外的谈话——那些人甚至和我不熟——可它让我花了很长时间反思自己的观点和行为。

我们知道，在某些方面，摩西在燃烧的荆棘与神相遇是至关重要的。但如果我们花点时间来看看细节，我们会发现，一开始，似乎是摩西每天牧放羊群的一个平常的场景。这并不是高调地与埃及国王相遇，或被外国军队入侵，甚至也不是看见了巨大的香柏树。而仅仅是在沙漠中燃烧的一小丛荆棘，它还是吸引了摩西的注意，因为荆棘中的火总不熄灭。

这成了摩西的“生命之树时刻”，因为他在那里遇见了神，神呼召他带领祂的百姓以色列民脱离了埃及的奴役。所以，不仅仅是荆棘中的火使这次经历变得壮观，而是在神的面前，听见神的呼召和神要与他同在的应许，这样他才能够去做这件改变人生的大事。

尽管向百姓显现祂的大能和同在完全取决于神，但去注意它是我们的事。

It's not always the big things in our lives that make the most difference. Often it's the little things, such as everyday events and encounters, that shape us deeply and really change our lives. For example, I can think of brief, unplanned conversations with people—some of whom were not even close to me—that made me reflect for a long time about my perspectives and actions.

We know that in some ways Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush was pivotal. But if we take a moment to look at the details, we can appreciate that at first it seemed a rather random occurrence in Moses' everyday life of herding flocks. It wasn't a high profile encounter with the king of Egypt, or an invasion by a foreign army, or even the sight of a massive cedar. It was simply a small bush burning in the desert, and yet it caught Moses' attention because the fire in the bush did not go out.

This became a tree-of-life moment for Moses, because God met with him there and called him to lead his people, the Israelites, out of slavery in Egypt. So it wasn't merely the fire in the bush that made this experience spectacular; it was being in the presence of God and hearing God's call and his promise to be with Moses so that he could do this life-changing thing.

While it is completely up to God to reveal his power and presence to people, it is up to us to pay attention.