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June 25 - Deuteronomy 15 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Wednesday, it's the 25th of
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  June. Great to have your company as we
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  continue to read another chapter of God's Word today and on this
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  day. Did you realise today, 25th of
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  June, all those years ago, in 1903, that's literally 122 years
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  ago, George Orwell was born. If you don't recognise the name,
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  he's the guy that wrote Animal Farm who wrote 1984.
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  These books that eerily looked into the future and reflected
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  exactly what would be going wrong.
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  I don't know if you've read any of his books recently, but they
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  still continue to be just as unsettling in the way they shine
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  a light on some truths of our time.
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  Who knew all that time ago we would be so predictable and here
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  we are. And as people are so
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  predictable, Deuteronomy is Moses taking his time to say,
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  guys, I know that you're going to go the wrong way.
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  And I know it's going to be hard to just stick to the one thing
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  that God's going to ask us to do.
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  So this is how we're going to do it and lays out the game plan.
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  And today he continues doing that as he unpacks the 4th
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  commandment, which is about what we owe God.
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  So let us continue to unpack this as we read together
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  Deuteronomy chapter 15. At the end of every 7th year,
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  you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.
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  This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans
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  they have made to their fellow Israelites.
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  They must not demand payment from their neighbour or
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  relatives, for the Lord's time of release has arrived.
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  This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow
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  Israelites, not to the foreigners living among you.
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  There should be no pour among you, for the Lord your God will
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  greatly bless you and the land He is giving you as a special
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  possession. You will receive this blessing
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  if you are careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your
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  God that I'm giving you today. The Lord your God will bless you
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  as He has promised. You will lend money to many
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  nations, but will never need to borrow.
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  You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.
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  But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns, when
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  you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not
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  be hard hearted or tight fisted toward them.
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  Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.
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  Do not be mean spirited and refuse someone alone because the
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  year of cancelling debts is close at hand.
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  If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out
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  to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin.
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  Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your
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  God will bless you in everything you do.
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  There will always be some in the land who are poor.
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  That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor
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  and with other Israelites in need.
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  If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant
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  and serves you for six years, in the 7th year you must set that
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  servant free. When you release the male
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  servant, do not send him away empty handed.
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  Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your
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  threshing floor, and your wine press.
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  Share with him some of the bounty with which the Lord your
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  God has blessed you. Remember that you were once
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  slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you.
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  That is why I am giving you this command.
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  But suppose your servant says I will not leave you because he
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  loves you and your family and he has done well with you.
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  In that case, take an all and push it through his earlobe into
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  the door. After that, he will be your
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  servant for life, and do the same for your female servants.
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  You must not consider it a hardship when you release your
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  servants. Remember that for six years they
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  have given you service worth double the wage of hired
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  workers, and the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.
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  You must set aside for the Lord your God all first born males
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  from your flocks and herds. Do not use the first born of
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  your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the first born
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  of your flocks. Instead, you and your family
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  must eat these animals in the presence of the Lord your God
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  each year at the place He chooses.
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  But if this first born animal has any defect, such as lameness
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  or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must
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  not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
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  Instead, use it for food for your family in your hometown.
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  Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat it,
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  just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer.
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  But you must not consume the blood.
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  You must pour it out on the ground like water.
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  Oh Jesus, thank you for this revolutionary way of looking at
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  our possessions. Everything we have is yours and
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  is a gift from You on the way that You encouraged your people
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  to live as they move into this land, to be so free in sharing
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  and giving generously with those in their community.
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  Lord, I pray that that would rub off on us, that we would see the
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  blessings you have given us as a way that we can bless our
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  communities and that we won't hold so tightly onto our own
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  possessions, but see them as Your gift to us that we can
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  enjoy and share with others. Our Lord, crack open our hearts.
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  Our hearts that a modern world can certainly make selfish so
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  that we can truly be your generous people, generous in
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  love, generous in our time, generous with our possessions.
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  Because you were so generous with us, Father, you gave us
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  your son, your most precious possession so that we could be
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  with you. Oh, thank you.
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  We just praise you and put you at the highest place of honour
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  in our lives. And pray all of this in the name
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  of your loving Son, Jesus, Amen.