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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
"If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate." Exodus 22:25-27
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
After addressing matters of unacceptable worship and their accompanying rituals, God gives Israel guidance on how to care for the disadvantaged in their society. It’s obvious that God and His Son Jesus had a special love and empathy for the needy. It’s also just as obvious that the Lord expects us to act likewise whether it is toward the alien, the widow, the orphan, or anyone else who is struggling and in want.
In today’s scripture, God addresses the matter of money lending, a practice that was prevalent in Old Testament times as it is now. We read where money or other items were often lent out from one Israelite to another, much like we might spot someone a few dollars or allow someone to borrow something to help them out today. In our passage, we find God providing direction so to build in protections for those in need. Look again at His words here:
"If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate." Exodus 22:25-27
We need to note here that this wasn’t just some suggestion from God in regard to whether or not interest should be collected on money lent. Rather, He commands that no interest was to be charged. Essentially, this constituted a biblical, God-sponsored, interest-free loan as He looked out for the less fortunate, a welcome relief for anyone who was struggling to make ends meet.
Just as we saw in yesterday’s message and God’s guidance on helping widows and orphans, there are multiple scripture passages on this matter of not burdening the poor. They include the following:
"If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you. You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit." Leviticus 25:35-37
"Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess." Deuteronomy 23:19-20
"He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man." Ezekiel 18:8
I think we all may have loaned something to someone at one time or another. Through His Word, the Lord leads us to consider whether or not we expected to be repaid or for the item we lent to be returned. Further, if we did expect payback, did we expect more to be returned than what was borrowed?
From a world view, the expectation would almost always be that what was lent must be returned, at base value at a minimum. But the Lord’s ways are not like the world’s and Jesus reminds us of this in a parable He tells in the Gospel of Matthew:
"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.”
"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'”
“The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”
"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.”
"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'”
"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.”
"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'”
“In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.”
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." 18:23-35
Here, we see Jesus taking the matter of debt repayment to a different plain.
Live life long enough and you will probably find yourself down and out at some time or another. When we’re in that place, we are usually looking for someone to show us compassion and caring as we pray to the Lord to bring us relief from our neediness and restore us in accordance with His perfect will.
Often times, this happens in the way of a brother or sister who is able to pitch in and help us get out of the red and into the black in a financial time of need. These people who seek situations where they can help others understand where their provision comes from. They know that it is God and Him alone who provides the opportunity to assist others, providing what’s needed to do it. Indeed, all we have, whether in plenty or in want, is a result of God’s abundant blessing on our lives. Our money is really His money and He expects us to be good stewards of it. And so if you see a person in need, pray over the situation to discern whether or not God is calling you to help out in some way. If He is, it’s incumbent on us to respond in obedience, knowing He holds a special place in His heart for the needy.
These acts of goodwill toward others reflect the love and goodness of our Lord who is merciful and caring at His core. Just by merit of me writing this and you soon to read it, we know God has shown us awesome grace through His Son Jesus. We’re alive, actively breathing with beating hearts, signs that we’re richly blessed with the gift of life. Further, through our faith in Jesus as Savior, our eternal future is guaranteed as death has lost all power over us.
So all Christian believers are secure in Christ and this liberates us to divert our attention from ourselves and toward others, extending the blessings we have received from our Lord to anyone who is lacking. We have the privilege to show them the abundant goodness and kindness of the Lord through allowing Him to aid others through us.
In other words, when we give freely to help those in need, not expecting anything in return, we allow the receiver to experience the same Jesus who God sent to cover our sin debt on the cross at Calvary. It was a debt that we could never repay and it came with no interest due. Instead, we ended up receiving even more than we deserved, the blessed salvation and certainty of Heaven.
Through belief in Christ, God forgives our debt and then gives us the opportunity to do the same to others, anyone who might be indebted to us. This is the point God was making in Old Testament times, echoes by Jesus in the New Testament, and a principle He wants us to live by today.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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