Company And More
After buying our house in the next seven weeks we had company for five out of seven. Our house was put to good use right away but we were beginning to get exhausted. All routines had been thrown out the window. Even the two weeks where we didn’t have company were filled. I managed to get some sort of infection in my intestines that was so serious that I ended up in the hospital overnight. The other week we had a funeral to help out with so things have been busy.
Reaching Out To Those Close By
Moving into our new home as provided some new opportunities to get to know our neighbors. I have been challenged by some of the laws in the Old Testament and have been trying to implement them in our modern culture. Let me explain, in Leviticus 19:9-10 we read some apparently obscure laws about not reaping all the grapes off the vine. Then in Leviticus 23:22 we read that the Israelites were not to glean the corners of their fields. Then in Deuteronomy 24:19-22 we read that they were not to gather all the olives from the olive trees. What do these Old Testament Laws have to do with today?
These laws were related to Israel’s system of taking care of the poor. God wanted the poor to be able to glean the food from the corners of the fields, the leftovers of the vine, and the leftovers of the olive trees. When reading the story of Ruth we recognize the importance of these laws because Ruth and Naomi depended upon these laws for their very survival. But how does this help us today?
God didn’t want those who were doing well to so fill their barns with their goods that the poor couldn’t be taken care of. Poor people are simply people in need. Today there are some rich people who are poor in other ways. It is easy for us to fill our schedules with good things and then neglect the needs of those around us. Some of us spend all of our energy working on things that benefit our lives, our church, our family and then don’t have any energy to help someone who can never repay the favor. We can spend a lot of time working for an evangelistic event or taking part in scheduled door to door soulwinning but not have time for the person who God brings your way when you haven’t scheduled this as a time to share God’s Word with them.
With all that said, I realized that I have been so busy with “Church tasks” that I have missed many opportunities to make an impact with those nearest to me, my neighbors. I have been striving to get to know my neighbors and develop relationships with them. There is a great spiritual need here and God wants to meet it. Please pray for us as we strive to win the lost and be sensitive to the doors of opportunity that the Lord opens up along the way.
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Thanks so much for your prayers and support,
Jason, Becca, Elizabeth, Andrew, & John Miller
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