Monday 27 Feb 2023

February 27: Leviticus 19:9-10

Key Verse: Leviticus 19:9
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

Devotion:
When God laid down the rules about sacrificing, He was making sure there was equality for all – unlike many governments nowadays! The people were expected to follow Gods rules and hence ensure the community as a whole would survive and thrive. When He gave commands about sacrifices and reaping He made sure provision was put in place for people who could not afford to live because they had no money!

God still wants us to be fair and to uphold justice; and justice is not all about making sure the laws are followed to the exacting words or ideals of the person in charge. God put the laws in place so everyone would be able to survive, with the rich who had plentiful allowing the poor who had nothing to glean and gather that which was not profitable to gather.

Farmers will try to harvest as much as is practical whilst ensuring their machines and people are kept safe from dangers. If the edge of the field has become to wet and muddy, driving a machine through that part would cause damage to the machine and to the field. By leaving these parts of the field untouched by the harvesting, they are preventing accidental damage and expense but also giving the poor and needy a place where they can manually gather the meagre amounts they may need to survive.

What God may prefer is for us to be able to gather the harvest and share it with the people in need, not just banking everything and making as much money as possible! God was saying these things because He would ensure they had enough to gather and harvest the first time round and also that enough was left for the people in need. But each person had to do their thing!

Points to Ponder:
Do you expect God to supply everything?

Will you work with God instead?