After Pentecost Devotional - Day 47

“Make sure that orphans and foreigners are treated fairly. And if you lend money to a widow and want to keep something of hers to guarantee that she will pay you back, don’t take any of her clothes.” Deuteronomy 24:6

Clothing was a visible expression of wealth in those days. The vast majority of people had one or two changes of clothes. The availability of clothing was nothing like looking into our closets of unused articles for something to wear. A cloak was used as a blanket at night, as blankets, quilts, and the like were non-existent luxuries for a much more developed period of time.

Akin to the law we looked at regarding exempting the tools of one's trade as barred from being taken as collateral, clothing here enters the picture in a similar way. The point is the protection of the poor. The point is that oppression is not godly. The point is that Israel was to act in accord with Yahweh's care of the poor and oppressed. A winner take all, anything goes approach to the creation of wealth is completely unacceptable.

Compassion was to rule the business decisions we make. Compassion for the needs of those with whom we do business was to be the underlying theme to give direction to our actions. Business itself, however, was to be compassionate. The standards established here place compassion ahead of profit. They place the good of others ahead of personal gain. They demand understanding of one another's needs.

The mantra we often hear of “it's just business, it's not personal” simply does not apply. All our actions and interactions with others are personal. Try as we might to distance ourselves from the personal implications of our words and deeds, they are always personal. They impact people directly. They require that people respond in very personal ways to the market pressures they face.

Illness is personal. Hunger is personal. Thirst is personal. Debt is personal. Being forced to relinquish resources to meet a need is personal, regardless of how we might want to justify our actions or impersonalize our own decisions.

The bottom line is that my economic welfare is not the highest value to be considered in my dealings with others. There are greater issues in play than increasing the size of my bank account. More important than assuring that the loan I make will be repaid is seeing that said loan meets that person's needs. This is a radically different model for economic activity than what we have promoted as the established and civil norm.

Beyond the individual's economic success underlies this principle that the oppression of others on the way to that success is a direct violation of Yahweh's will. That is why this commandment regarding collateral is matched by another disallowing the charging of interest in an interest-free economy. The nation was not to allow for the abuse of the needy as a means for another's gain. Yahweh wanted them all to remember that all the resources at their disposal originated with Yahweh's grace, not their own industry. As such, their economic activity was to be based on grace and compassion.

Examine the role of compassion in your own life. What needs to change in regard to your dealings with others?

"Lord, fill my life with your compassion that your grace may abound through me."

—©Copyright 2016, Christopher B. Harbin

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