Saturday, November 20, 2010

Beyond Gratitude

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God." ~ Leviticus 18:9-10

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, reading the passage in Leviticus prompts me to think about what I am giving to others out of the bountiful harvest God has given me. As I pray to the Lord, I thank Him on a daily basis for all He has provided. But God's words in Leviticus tell me that being grateful for the harvest is well and good, but gratitude is only a partial response. The entire response includes sharing the harvest with the poor and the alien. Just who are the poor? Who are the alien? In today's culture who do these words point to? I trust God to give me answers to these questions and to lead me to go beyond gratitude.

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