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Deuteronomy 22 (ESV)

1 “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 2 And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. 3 And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. 4 You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.

8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.

 

REFLECTION:

• A person who finds another’s lost property is obliged to return it or care for it until the owner can be found. In Ex 23:4-5, the obligation to help is extended to enemies.
• Jesus applied this principle to answer an “expert in the Law” who challenged him to define the “neighbor” that Old Testament Law requires a person to love as himself. In his story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus showed that our “neighbor” is anyone in need whom we have the ability to help.

 

PRAYER:

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me to understand that anyone I have the ability to help and who needs my help is my neighbor. I help them simply for their benefit and not as an exchange, hoping that they will be grateful and repay me in some way. My heart belongs to You, but my body is still in this world. I have many practical needs and difficulties, and my resources and abilities are limited, which prevents me from helping my neighbors selflessly and unconditionally. Please help me to grow in my life so that I can focus more on You and act in ways that are more in line with Your will. Please continue to cultivate in me a character that loves others as myself, so that I can help my neighbors based on the quality of my life itself, not on any external possessions. Please grant me more wisdom so that I can understand that helping my neighbors selflessly is to please You and to help me grow in my life, as well as to benefit my neighbors, and more importantly, to benefit my own life. Amen!

 

HYMN:

Teach Me To Love – youtu.be/4YXTcGxu3Ss