8这也是我们的经历。当我们堕落作罪人时，当我们冷淡退后时，……虽然我们像在地上亿万人中的不信者一样过生活，但主耶稣将我们寻见，并从万民中，从不信者中间，将我们领出来。……你以前和不信者一样，但有一天主耶稣这位牧人寻见你，把你从不信者中间领回，并领你归向祂自己。主在以西结三十四章十三节下半继续说，祂要引导祂的子民归回自己的地。他们原被掳到异邦之国，但主应许要领他们归回自己的地，回到迦南美地。我们的美地是基督。我们得救以前，或在冷淡退后之后，都是与基督隔离的。但主把我们寻见，并领我们归向祂自己，甚至带我们进入祂自己，以祂自己为我们的美地。……美地今天也是在召会生活中。因此，当我们被领回归向基督时，我们也被领回到召会生活，在其中我们得着美地的丰富和享受。
8This also has been our experience…As sinners or when we became backsliders,…although we were living like unbelievers among billions of others on earth, the Lord Jesus sought us out and brought us out of the nations, out of the unbelievers…Formerly, you were the same as the unbelievers, but one day the Lord Jesus as the Shepherd sought you and brought you out from among the unbelievers and brought you to Himself. In verse 13b the Lord went on to say that He would bring His people back to their own land. They were in captivity in heathen countries, but the Lord promised to bring them back to their own country, to the good land of Canaan. Our good land is Christ. Before we were saved or after we backslid, we were separated from Christ. But the Lord sought us out and brought us back to Himself and even into Himself as our good land…The good land today is also in the church life. Thus, when we were brought back to Christ, we were also brought to the church life, where we have the riches and the enjoyment of the good land.