If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, do not
ignore it but be sure to take it back to him (NIV 1984, Deuteronomy 22:1).
There is a popular philosophy that can be summed up like
this: Look out for #1. This sounds
more like an advertisement for natural selection than it does the basis for an
ethical system. The biblical writers take a different tack.
The writer of Deuteronomy records God’s admonition that
rather than selfishly looking after our own interests, we are to care for our
brothers and sisters. Our brother’s sheep that wanders away is our
responsibility to return, even if no one’s looking. We are not to hide behind
plausible deniability, but to do the right thing.
It goes on to say if we find an ox running loose and don’t
know who owns it; we are to take it home, feed and care for it until we find
out who it does belong to, and then return it. Although it might be easier to
ignore the animal, more advantageous to take it as our own, or more tasty to
enjoy a barbecue; that’s not the proper response for one who claims to be a
follower of Christ.
I can’t remember the last time I came upon a wandering sheep
or ox. So how does this apply to a 21st century inhabitant of a
major metropolitan area? Jesus put it this way: Do to others what you would
have them do to you (Matthew 7:12).
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Pray for the Holy Spirit to
show you opportunities to do the right thing today and all this week.
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