Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death. However, if payment is demanded of him, he may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded. This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned. "If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his. "If a man's bull injures the bull of another and it dies, they are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and the dead animal will be his." Exodus 21:28-36
Year after year, people are seriously injured or killed due to negligence…the careless actions or lack of action on another’s part. Negligent actions can cover a wide variety of types but they all come back to the lack of care taken by someone to ensure another’s safety. Here’s just a few examples from real life situations (names and places have been withheld for privacy purposes):
A 19-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in jail after pleading guilty to negligent homicide in the drunken driving death of their best friend.
A city bus driver has been charged with negligent homicide in the death of a 27-year-old pedestrian who was struck while in a pedestrian crosswalk.
A young child was in the care of their grandmother while the mother was working. As the grandmother was mowing the lawn, she was distracted and lost sight of the child who was later found dead from drowning in the swimming pool.
One person was killed when, police said, the car the person was a passenger in ran a red light and collided with a sport utility vehicle.
A young child was attacked by a loose pit bull after she got off the school bus. The child had to have surgery after the bites and more than 30 stitches were needed. The case was turned over to local animal control authorities for investigation.
Every day, negligent actions lead to needless injury and loss of life and the thing to remember is that they all could have been prevented. The best friend is still alive if the driver hadn’t been driving drunk. The woman would still be walking across crosswalks in life if the bus driver had granted to required right of way. The grandchild would still be visiting grandma today if she had just kept her eye on him. The passenger lives if the driver stops at the red light as required.
And the child doesn’t endure the terrifying pit bull attacks and resultant injuries if the pit bull owners would have had the dog secured so it couldn’t get loose.
Our justice system today has deterrents for negligence. People sit in prisons today for this very offense and individuals and insurance companies pay out millions upon millions every year to victims as compensation for their negligent acts that led to injury or loss.
Well, as we can see in our scripture today, negligence was a problem back in Old Testament times as well. As you know, there were more than 600,000 people participating in the exodus to Canaan and they had taken their herds of animals along as well. People and animals were often in close quarters with one another so it was inevitable that there might be clashes between man and beast. As we can see, God’s law covered everything from animals attacking humans (bulls goring people), animals attacking other animals (bulls attacking other bulls) and people creating dangerous situations for the animals (uncovered pits that animals could fall into). Notice that penalties for negligence range from monetary or material compensation to even death. The bottom line is that God does not favor negligent actions for too often they injure or maim His children…children He loves so dearly.
Question: Have you been a victim of negligence? Or have you acted negligently against another? Keep in mind that we live in a world that is dangerous enough without us making it more so because of our careless actions. Why does the bible teach us so much about the right way to live and act? Because there is so much at stake and just one careless action could alter another’s life forever. And hurting another does not fit in with the expectation of Jesus who told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Indeed, true love…the love that we find only in the Father and His Son…is never negligent. Jesus displayed this when He so willingly died for us…bearing our careless, negligent sinfulness on the cross. He paid the price for us…the settlement that allowed us to go on living and serving. He loved perfectly to show us how to do likewise.
Thanks be to Jesus for all He did for us then, all He is doing for us today and all He has yet to do for us until that day when He returns in glory. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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