May the mumbling commence!
In many ways, we are given as a good example being efficient. Think about the auto industry. It’s hard to find an auto commercial without the mention of the Miles Per Gallon or the Flex Fuel feature. Get the most out of your product without surrendering power.
The Lord God teaches us another way… particularly in relationship to farming. Inefficiency is the hallmark of a healthy community. Read from Deuteronomy chapter twenty-four:
"When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don't go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don't go over the boughs twice. Leave some of the olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. This also applies to the grapes in your vineyard. Do not glean the vines after they are picked, but leave any remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command.” (Verses 19-22)
A forgotten bundle of grain belongs to the foreigner and the orphan and the widow. On remembering the bundle, forget it and remember the needs of the most vulnerable people in your midst. The blessing of the Lord God is promised to those who live by this principle. Indeed, the Lord will bless you in all you do.
The same principle applies to other items of the harvest – olives and grapes and etc. Protect those who are most vulnerable by remembering them and being inefficient in your harvesting methods. Remembering is important.
It is remembering that is the basis for this principle. Remember that once you were vulnerable or that your spiritual ancestors were. Remember that the Lord will not allow injustice to stand. So try to be just in your dealings with people who are more vulnerable than you are.
It is a simple lesson – one difficult to live out. It will cost us. And we must count that cost and make a decision on assuming that cost… on paying that cost. Where will our resources be best used? Read the struggle that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had when confronted with a thorny question from Jesus. Read from Luke chapter twenty:
One day as Jesus was teaching and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests and teachers of religious law and other leaders came up to him. They demanded, "By whose authority did you drive out the merchants from the Temple? Who gave you such authority?"
"Let me ask you a question first," he replied. "Did John's baptism come from heaven, or was it merely human?"
They talked it over among themselves. "If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn't believe him. But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us, because they are convinced he was a prophet." Finally they replied, "We don't know."
And Jesus responded, "Then I won't answer your question either." (Verses 1-8)
Want to know God? You need to be willing to accept the cost that goes along with it – the costs of obedience or the costs of ridicule. The religious leaders counted the cost and were not willing to pay the price, so they remained on the fence and learned nothing new of the Lord. Is it any wonder that they had not felt the Lord’s presence in such a long time?
Perhaps this cost counting and paying the price is a wake-up call for Christians today. Do you want to know God as a living and active part of your life? Then not only count the cost but also be willing to pay that price for journeying closer and closer to the Lord.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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