Some Go Hungry
When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I, the LORD, am your God. -- Leviticus 23:22
I shelled them. I did. And, really, I didn’t complain. Well, maybe a deep sigh but nothing loud. I put aside my plans to workout, write and read. I just did what needed to be done. But I was aggravated and that caused the guilt.
There are so many people in the world who don’t have fresh peas to shell, cook and eat. They don’t have enough food period. So this surplus is something I should feel nothing but gratitude for. Most of the time I do.
The Bible tells us that God understood there would be people who don’t have enough food. He gave instructions to make sure those people would be provided for. He told the farmers to leave grain along the edges of the fields and to not go back and pick up the grain the harvesters dropped. That way the poor and the foreigners could have something to eat. It could be called sharing.
Do you remember the story of Ruth? When she and Naomi returned to Naomi’s home, Ruth worked the fields that belonged to Boaz. She went behind the harvesters collecting what they’d dropped so that she and her mother-in-law would have food to eat.
Many of us have an abundance of everything, including food. But there are so many people -- including some in this country -- who don’t have the basics. I’m not talking about people who won’t work or even those who can’t work. I’m talking about people who work hard each and every day and still don’t earn enough money to have a decent place to live, enough food to eat, and all those miscellaneous items that eat into any budget.
So, yes, I felt guilty that I didn’t want to shell peas at night. I’m blessed that I have enough food to eat. Maybe if we all tried a little harder, gave a little more, other people would have enough food to eat too.
No comments:
Post a Comment