You Shall Not Wrong

 Or Oppress A Resident Alien

 

You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.

 

If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor's cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor's only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.

 

Exodus 22:21-27

 

People who lack feeling for others are like cold fronts on the weather map in the winter - you'd rather see them going rather than coming. God reminded the Jews, His chosen people, that they had once been strangers in a foreign land, and that they should know how it feels to work under those who show no sympathy.

 

Christians have the same responsibility to the poor and downtrodden as Israel had. God has told us to love our neighbors. He also reminds us that if we forget what it is like to be on the bottom, we are no longer fit to be on top.

 

When Jesus changes your heart, He gives you a heart for others.

 

Our Daily Bread - June 12, 2005