Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again. (Deut. 22:1-4)
God is Holy and He demanded holiness from His people. God is also loving and commanded His people to love their neighbor as themselves. Caring for and protecting the livestock and sacrificial animals, or any other possession of another which became lost or stray was being a good neighbor and doing for other Israelites as they would have done unto them. God expects His people to care for one another as family and have respect for the property of another even as we would want them to respect and rescue ours. God commanded His people to love and respect each other’s possessions, persons, and property and not to be like the nations around them which took what they wanted and cared nothing for their neighbors.
For the Christian today, caring and loving our neighbor means not only doing all we can to help when necessary to respect and rescue that which becomes lost but also to do unto others as God has done for us. Doing good for others no matter what they do to us and not taking what is not ours demonstrates the difference between us and the world that others might see the change God has done because of our faith in Jesus Christ and His finished and perfect work unto Salvation. Because God has rescued us from sin through our repentance we seek to share the Good News with others that they too might be recovered from sin and brought into the fold of God.
God has sent those who are His and know Him out into this world to reach the lost that they might be saved from sin. He desires that His people strive to be holy and obedient unto Him that we might minister to those around us who are hurting and in need as He provides. We serve others, equipped with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Our God has commanded us to love one another with an unfeigned love, even as He first loved us, and to disciple one another in the Word of God so that we may all grow in grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our Lord has commissioned those who are His with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to go where He sends us in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we go, we are to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of God might have life in His Name.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. God calls you to faith in Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with God, forgiveness from God, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is God the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.
In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet