Exodus 22
25 "If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor; neither shall you charge him interest.
26 If you take your neighbor's garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down,
27 for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.
Exodus 23
10 "For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase,
11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.
12 "Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the alien may be refreshed.
Leviticus 19
9 And when you get in the grain from your land, do not let all the grain be cut from the edges of the field, or take up what has been dropped on the earth after the getting in of the grain.
10 And do not take all the grapes from your vine-garden, or the fruit dropped on the earth; let the poor man, and the man from another country, have these: I am the Lord your God.
As I pointed out in my last entry, we Americans are living in a land of excess. Yet we have hundreds upon hundreds of people starving. The poor are not adequately taken care of. If they are, it is for the sake of appearances: "Look at the wonderful things I do for the poor!", or political expediency: "Joe candidate was seen serving soup at the local soup kitchen." (which is often done for a mere photo opportunity, not because Joe Candidate really cares about the poor).
Our country, our society, sadly, is working on creating more poor, starving people in a way that is sad, sickening, and just plain confusing. I am sure I am not the only consumer asking why we are paying nearly $4 per one gallon of milk and nearly three and a half dollars for a carton of one dozen large, grade AA eggs. Why are prices so high? I know there are a number of economic factors involved, but that doesn't mean it makes sense to me, or for that matter seems right. Is the old saying true? Are the rich getting richer and the poor getting pooer? If so, this is further evidence that we have turned our collective back on God as a country, and are walking further and further from His grace. I, personally, am of the opinion that there is a level at which these high prices are a sin. They are a sin because as a result of these astronomical prices, there are families that cannot put a meal on the table. There are single mothers wondering where their next meal will come from.
We have been told by Jesus, Himself, to feed the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned, and yet all we can do is think of ourselves. That is, those who aren't living in obedient surrender to the Lord Jesus. Those who live their lives in surrender to Jesus know that it is up to us to do these things or face certain consequences:
Matthew 25
31 But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then will he be seated in his glory:
32 And before him all the nations will come together; and they will be parted one from another, as the sheep are parted from the goats by the keeper.
33 And he will put the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
34 Then will the King say to those on his right, Come, you who have the blessing of my Father, into the kingdom made ready for you before the world was:
35 For I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in;
36 I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me.
37 Then will the upright make answer to him, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food, and give it to you? or in need of drink, and give it to you?
38 And when did we see you wandering, and take you in? or without clothing, and give it to you?
39 And when did we see you ill, or in prison, and come to you?
40 And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
41 Then will he say to those on the left, Go from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which is ready for the Evil One and his angels:
42 For I was in need of food, and you gave it not to me; I was in need of drink, and you gave it not to me:
43 I was wandering, and you took me not in; without clothing, and you gave me no clothing; ill, and in prison, and you came not to me.
44 Then will they make answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food or drink, or wandering, or without clothing, or ill, or in prison, and did not take care of you?
45 Then will he make answer to them, saying, Truly I say to you, Because you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me.
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment; but the upright into eternal life.
I admonish those of you for whom paying $3.18 or so for one dozen eggs is nothing like a hardship to buy two dozen eggs. Keep one for yourself, and find someone in need and give them the second dozen. Don't do it to make yourself look good. Don't do it to assuage some sense of guilt. Rather, do it because Jesus asked you to and you love Him enough to be obedient.
If I sound like I am crying out "
