Daily D – Exodus 22:26-27

by | Feb 6, 2021 | Daily D | 0 comments

If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him before sunset. For it is his only covering; it is the clothing for his body. What will he sleep in? And if he cries out to me, I will listen because I am gracious. EXODUS 22:26-27 (CSB)

_____________________________________________________________________________

“I will listen because I am gracious.”
God

Exodus is a book about justice, property rights, ethical behavior, and doing the right thing the right way for the right reason in the right time. It is all this and more. It is also about treating people with grace, mercy, kindness, and compassion. 

God is concerned about resident aliens. He is concerned about neighbors who are down to nothing but the clothes on their backs. He wants all people to take the right lead measures in all things to get the right outcomes in almost all cases. There will be exceptions always. He has guidance for the exceptions as well. 

The most important guideline may be what God says here. “I will listen because I am gracious.” God knows. God sees. God hears. God truly listens. God responds. When he acts and responds, he acts and responds with grace. 

When we find ourselves in a tough spot and do not know what to do, we do well to err on the side of grace. Some things are right and wrong, black and white. Many, if not most, situations are one shade of gray or another. When we struggle to decide if that gray is more black or more white, the benefit of the doubt should be on the side of white. 

If God can put up with problem people over decades, so can we. If God can change the hearts of even the most recalcitrant of acquaintances, we can wait a little longer for people to have that opportunity for themselves. Stopping to reflect just now, it dawns on me that on many occasions, one person or another has erred on the side of grace with me. 

Some people like to point out that Hammurabi’s Code is a lot like what God gives Moses and Israel. They are similar in that they are both law codes. However, in the Hammurabi Code, there was the equivalent of the death penalty for parking tickets. You can look it up. There was no grace. There was no mercy. There was no compassion.

I double-dog dare you to read through the statutory and case laws of Exodus and come to the same conclusions. Again and again, God talks about mercy, compassion, grace, and means of forgiveness and restitution. There is no death penalty for parking tickets. 

You will have an opportunity soon to take a pound of flesh or to err on the side of grace. One of these makes you more like God. One of these demonstrates his effect on your life. One of these gives you the opportunity to live in peace going forward. The wise choice is to err on the side of grace, even if you may have to do it again and again. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

I will err on the side of grace.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Our Father, you have been more gracious to me than I will ever have to be with anyone else. Empower me to err on the side of grace as long as it is grace to do so. I need your grace to make this happen. I know you love to give this kind of healing grace to all who ask because you are gracious. Amen. 

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

CONNECT WITH ME!

Interested in learning more about Church Unique or Life Younique? Send a note through the Get In Touch box or Message me through the Facebook link above.

          Church Unique Logo          Auxano Logo

GET IN TOUCH!

READ MY BLOG!

Daily D – Psalm 143:8-10

Psalm 143:8-10 Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord; I run to you to hide me. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

Daily D – Psalm 142:5

Psalm 142:5 Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.”

Daily D – Ezra 3:11-13

Ezra 3:11-13 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid. But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.

Daily D – 2 Chronicles 35:22-25

2 Chronicles 35:22-25 After Josiah had finished restoring the Temple, King Neco of Egypt led his army up from Egypt to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River, and Josiah and his army marched out to fight him. But King Neco sent messengers to Josiah with this message: “What do you want with me, king of Judah? I have no quarrel with you today! I am on my way to fight another nation, and God has told me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.” But Josiah refused to listen to Neco, to whom God had indeed spoken, and he would not turn back. Instead, he disguised himself and led his army into battle on the plain of Megiddo. But the enemy archers hit King Josiah with their arrows and wounded him. He cried out to his men, “Take me from the battle, for I am badly wounded!”

Daily D – 2 Chronicles 32:31

2 Chronicles 32:31 However, when ambassadors arrived from Babylon to ask about the remarkable events that had taken place in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his heart.