On Remembering

Deuteronomy 24:18-22 (MSG)   18 Don’t ever forget that you were once slaves in Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there. I command you: Do what I’m telling you. ^19-22 When you harvest your grain and forget a sheaf back in the field, don’t go back and get it; leave it for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow so that God, your God, will bless you in all your work. When you shake the olives off your trees, don’t go back over the branches and strip them bare—what’s left is for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. And when you cut the grapes in your vineyard, don’t take every last grape—leave a few for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. Don’t ever forget that you were a slave in Egypt. I command you: Do what I’m telling you.

Observation

“Don’t ever forget that you were once slaves in Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there.”  In Scripture, Egypt is representative of the life of sin.  The Promised Land is meant to be like our life in Christ.  God is commanding His people to remember when they have plenty that they were delivered from slavery and bondage so they will have grace and mercy on those who are not yet free or have suffered loss.  He wants the foreigner, the widow and the orphan to be blessed by the generosity of His people so that they will find rest, sustenance and, hopefully, belonging.  

Their is a tendency for us to forget what our lives were like before embracing Christ.  We like to think that we weren’t that bad, just a little lost, slightly wandering, but basically good people.  Lost is lost regardless of whether we are a rule follower or a rule breaker.  We were all born in Egypt.  We were all foreigners, fatherless and orphaned.  Some choose to live all their lives in slavery and bondage, chasing after the wind of knowledge, pleasure or accomplishment.  Then there are those who brave the wilderness to find the Promised Land, finding grace, redemption, healing, peace and blessing – because “God got you out of there.”    He wants them to remember t what was freely received should be freely given.  

Impact on Me

I overheard a conversation by two young men while I was sitting in a public place.  They were talking about the best bars for partying. What was of so much interest to them was completely foreign to me.  I realized that these young men were culturally different from me in so many ways, like foreigners in my land.   I then thought about those who are aware that God exists and are willing to talk with me about Him, but have really surrendered nothing into His care; to me, these, too, are foreigners in my land, sojourners just traveling through, leaving nothing, taking nothing.

I have a Father God and, as a member of His body, am the bride of Christ. To me, the fatherless and widows of this passage are those who travel through or live in my land, but have not yet understood and fully embraced the riches available to them in Christ. They are those who need love, support and comfort, those overwhelmed by circumstances, symptoms or loss.  Now that I have come into the land promised to me and been blessed, adopted and married to the Lord, I am commanded to remember to be generous to all of these because I was once a slave in Egypt (sin) and came to my land as a foreigner or sojourner, fatherless, a widow and orphan.  I survived because of the generous grace extended to me. Should I not do the same for these others?

Jesus commands me to remember that His body was broken and His blood shed so that I could possess the land promised to me, an inheritance so rich that I can never spend it all. He reminds me that I should not hoard those riches or greedily gather them, not judge who is worthy to glean after my harvest, not count the cost or fence my fields; rather, He commands me to leave behind – be willing to share from my abundance – enough for those who may not be much like me now, but so like me before this became my land of promise – the strangers, sojourners, fatherless, widows and orphans who do not yet understand or embrace the One Who desires to bless them in the same way as He has blessed me.  If I truly love Him, truly trust Him, truly remember where I was before He brought me into this land, truly live like He is my source, my provider, my redeemer, I will leave a more generous portion behind so that they can eat their fill and know that the Lord is good.

Prayer

Father God, the One Who delivers and redeems us because You love us so, I want to be ever grateful for my freedom from my Egypt and careful to share Your goodness and grace with others who may not yet be free or are not yet experiencing the fullness of Your grace, mercy and peace.  Break my heart with what breaks Yours!  Give me compassion and grace for those who are so unlike me now but so like me before I knew Jesus and embraced Him.  I ask this all in Jesus’ name.  Make it so.