“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. And you shall do the same with his donkey or his garment, or any lost thing which [your brother] loses and you find; you may not ignore it. You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.” Deuteronomy 22:1-4
The explanation of this law supposes brotherhood, attentiveness, and compassion. God’s people are to have special care for others made in His image, alert to what’s happening around them and exercising large hearts. The bother and potential expense of tending to a lost item or animal, and effort spent seeking its owner, are more important than getting on with personal responsibilities. The Lord cares about how His children care.
Going about daily life, we concern ourselves with many things. In doing so, we choose what to notice and get involved in, and dictate what to ignore or neglect. Ofttimes the press of urgent blinds us, or stress hardens us, to needs in our midst. Personal busyness precludes our ability to see people and things not in our priority path. God’s way is never to hurry or disregard, but to be cognizant and willing to help.
The prodigal’s father never stopped longing for his lost son and his return home. Through our foolish wandering, the Lord Jesus never stopped pursuing us in love. He cared all along to return us to our rightful home. He is a God concerned, and redemptive, and still goes out of His way to reconcile and restore. How about us? (Psalm 103:11-14; Isaiah 54:7-8; 55:6-7)
What areas of lost devotion or discipline are we neglecting? Whom are we ignoring who needs hope, reassurance, or restoration? Is our habit to close our eyes to what’s inconvenient, to turn our backs on the unattractive, or situations that yield us no return? With what cloak or donkey is God convicting us today of selfish priorities and callous hearts, and what will we do about it? How can I be forthright in bringing about relational and spiritual restoration among the lost, the bitter, the broken? (Galatians 6:1)
“Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.” ~Robert Robinson (1758)
Father, attune my eyes and desire with grace to others, and keep me ready, willing, and generous to make restoration as I can for others’ good and Your sake.
As the rain and snow 