One of my favorite laws is about how you shouldn’t make sure to harvest everything. Some should be left behind for the poor to gather.

This chapter, Deuteronomy 24, talks a lot about compassion for the poor.

The Israelites are reminded to be compassionate because they were once slaves in Egypt.

We were all slaves to sin. We can have compassion on those who are poor, troubled, whatever their circumstance is, even if their choices brought them to that place.

We could be in the exact same place if it weren’t for the grace of God, if it weren’t for the fact that we were rescued from that life.

The specific laws here are about paying the worker on the day because they are counting on the money.

I know too many hard stories from Macedonia of people who worked and worked and their bosses put off paying them for months until the workers were out on the street or in jail for theft because of it.

When you are the one who has, it is on you to care for the one who doesn’t. You don’t know when you will be the one in need and another will have the abundance to provide for you.

Our family has, at different times, had plenty and has had nothing. The Lord used others to meet our needs and used us to meet the needs of others.

I love the ebb and flow of God’s economy, watching His money, His gifts, His talents flow freely through His body, meeting the needs, building each other up.

We are the one Body of Christ. Money and material things, time, care, and compassion are all part of the life blood that flows through the Body of Christ, like the oxygen that flows through our bodies of flesh bringing life to all its members.

It all flows through love. That’s the heart of it. Our use of our money and time and all our resources should be controlled by nothing but love.