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\u201cWhen you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands\u201d (Deuteronomy 24:19).

This chapter of Deuteronomy is filled with miscellaneous laws, like soup made from leftovers in one\u2019s refrigerator. Without a unifying theme and rooted Israelite life, we are tempted to toss them aside like unwanted Halloween candy.

Determining what to do with such a list of laws is complicated with various proposals on offer. Our text, rooted in an agricultural setting, is foreign to our urban context. However, if we lift the cover just slightly, we might find something of value here.

Some laws are written as principles, others as applications of a principle. I suggest that our text is a mixture of these two. So let us examine it for a moment. Israelite farmers harvested grain this way: first, the reapers would go through the field with some form of scythe leaving the grain laying on the ground; they were followed by those who gathered the fallen stalks and tied them into sheaves; later the sheaves would be carried to the threshing floor.

Both those who tied the grain into sheaves and those who gathered the sheaves did not get all the grain on the initial pass. God tells the farmers not to go over the field a second time, leaving the rest to \u2018the foreigner, fatherless and widows.\u2019 Keeping this command is central to the story told in the book of Ruth. In the Hebrew, it literally says, \u2018leave it behind for it belongs to the foreigner, fatherless and widows.\u201d

Who are the foreigners, fatherless and widows? They are those without land. The landless had no income. Remember that the land is God\u2019s gift to Israel for their flourishing. Those without land cannot flourish. If the Israelites will be openhanded to the landless God will bless them with abundance. The application and principle are in our text.

So, how do we apply this principle to our urban context?

A two-step process is helpful. First, we must check the attitude of our hearts towards our possessions, especially our money. We can test our hearts with this question: does our stuff belong to us or to the Lord? Psalm 24 opens with these famous words, \u201cthe earth is the Lords and everything in it!\u201d Does that include our stuff?

The second step is to examine our budget. Are we setting aside some money to help the poor? Do we support World Renew, Neighbour to Neighbour, Mission Services, etc.? The poor will not come to the fields we don\u2019t own, but they will go to such agencies. I wonder if it would also be a good discipline for us to designate some money to give to the poor that we meet. What would it do for us if we looked someone in the eye, saying, \u201cThis is for you, may you be blessed?\u201d Such conduct will likely help us to grow more compassionate.

Think of some other ways to practice this principle in your life. It is said that we teach the heart by practice. We become openhanded with practice. So how will you practice?