OUR DAILY BREAD : ON HELPING OTHERS

[cimi]

November 14
Thursday


ON HELPING
OTHERS

READ:
Leviticus 19:9-15
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When you reap the
harvest of your land, you
shall not wholly reap the
corners of your field,
nor shall you gather
the gleanings of your
harvest. __Lev. 19:9
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When snowstorms bury the grazing lands, ranchers must feed their herds by hand. As hay is tossed from wagons and trucks, the strongest animals bull their way to the front. Timid or sickly animals get little or no feed unless the rancher intervenes.

Workers in refugee camps and food pantries report a similar pattern. When they open their stores to those in need, the weak and timid may not make it to the front of the line. Like the ranchers , these human lifelines must take steps to ensure that their services reach the feeble, weary, and sick at the edge of society's attention.

They are carrying out a principle set forth by God long ago. In Leviticus 19, Moses instructed Israel's farmers and vintners to leave portions of their crops so the poor and the stranger could have something to eat (vv.9-10).

We too can serve as caretakers to the weak and weary. Whether we're teachers coaxing quiet students to open up, workers coming alongside a struggling co-worker, prisoners looking out for new arrivals, or parents showing attention to their children, we have ways to honor God by helping others.

As we seek to serve those in need, may the grace of God that reached us in our need move us to reach out to others in theirs. __Randy Kilgore

``````````````````````Father, open my eyes to those struggling to have``````````````````
```````````````````enough food, enough love, enough hope; then open my````````````````
```````````````````heart to find ways to help them receive love, using my`````````````````
``````````````````hands in service to them__and through them, to You.````````````````````
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By serving others, we serve God.

**************************Today's Bible Reading __ Leviticus 19:9-15************************

9 When you reap the
harvest of your land, you
shall not wholly reap the
corners of your field, nor
shall you gather the
gleanings of your harvest.

10 And you shall not glean
your vineyard, nor shall you
gather every grape of your
wineyard; you shall leave
them for the poor and the
stranger: I am the LORD your
God.

11 You shall not steal, nor
deal falsely, nor lie to one
another. 12 And you shall not
swear by My name falsely,
nor shall you profane the
name of your God: I am the
LORD.

13 You shall not cheat your
neighbor, nor rob him. The
wages of him who is hired
shall not remain with you all
night until morning. 14 You
shall not curse the deaf, nor
put a stumbling block before
the blind, but shall fear your
God: I am the LORD.

15 You shall do no injustice
in judgment. You shall not
be partial to the poor, nor
honor the person of the
mighty. IN righteousness you
shall judge your neighbor.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Built into Israel's divinely inspired social laws were provisions for
the poor. Certain parts of a harvest field were to be left for those
who were strangers in the land or who didn't have sufficient means
to care for themselves financially. This statute had a built-in- work
ethic for those in need. The poor were to roll up their sleeves and
exert the same kind of effort as those who had harvested the field
for the landlord. In this way, God cultivated responsibility on the
part of the poor into this principle of giving.