Continuing to work my way through Deuteronomy. Lot of commands to obey. Lot of to do’s. A fair number of to don’t’s as well. Some dealing with pretty weighty (aka sinful) matters. Some dealing with pretty weird (aka cultural) matters. Some I get. Some, like not boiling a goat in its mother’s milk, not as much. But the one that jumped off the page this morning was a bit surprising.

As part of the behaviors catalogue communicated by Moses as to what marks a set apart people — “a people holy to the LORD” (Dt. 26:19) — this command to obey seems, at first, kind of mundane. And yet, if it was heeded intentionally and consistently, it truly would serve to distinguish from the nations surrounding them a people who know they are “His treasured possession” (Dt. 26:18).

“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 with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he 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 ESV)

You may not ignore it . . . you shall help. Those are the commands to obey I’m chewing on this morning.

You’re out for a morning walk and some “me time” and you see an untethered cow coming at you. You’re rushing to the neighbors to get a cup of sugar and there, by the side of the road, is a stray sheep. Whaddya’ gonna do? You must not ignore it . . . thus saith the LORD through Moses. Don’t look the other way as if you didn’t see it . . . so says Peterson in The Message. You shall help him.

Okay, but what if the owner’s nowhere to be seen?

Take it home. Feed it. Care for it. Protect it. And when someone comes looking for it, restore it to him.

Take on someone else’s burden? Even when they’re the ones who couldn’t keep things corralled? And on my nickel?

Yeah, now you’re getting it.

How prone am I to be too busy to be my brother’s keeper — or at least his livestock’s keeper? Pretty prone. How self-absorbed to not come to the rescue of a sister when I come across an opportunity to come to her rescue — or at least to the rescue of her sheep? Too self-absorbed, I fear. Too often, if I’m honest.

But how amazing would it be to find a community that is constantly watching one another’s backs — or at least their livestock? How inviting a people who, because they are set apart to God, are set toward caring for each other — or at least each other’s sheep? Pretty inviting.

Just an Old Testament thing? Nope. Came across it in my Romans’ reading this morning, too.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

(Romans 13:8 ESV)

You may not ignore it. You shall help.

Because of God’s grace. For God’s glory.

Now, where’d that cow go? . . .