Do not pass by
Read in your Bible: Deuteronomy 22–24.
Among laws addressing daily community life, Moses tells Israel not to ignore a neighbour's fallen animal. Other provisions protect wages, allow gleaning and restrain the power of a lender. Covenant care reaches inconvenient, ordinary situations.
Love cannot remain an abstract attitude when another person's burden is visible. These laws arise in an ancient society and need careful interpretation, but their concern for responsibility and the vulnerable is clear. Religious identity does not excuse profiting from someone else's distress.
Look for one burden you have been treating as someone else's problem. Offer help without taking control of the person's life. When you employ, lend or trade, ask whether your terms respect the dignity of the person with fewer options.
Related reading and source notes.
Read the Bible passage first. These notes identify related Ellen G. White chapters; a related reading is not a claim that she wrote this interpretation. Any direct quotations are marked separately. The explanations and applications are The Earl Project’s own.
1Patriarchs and Prophets · Chapter 51—God’s Care for the PoorPP, chapter 51
White's chapter on God's care for the poor is related reading on the practical protection of people with limited resources and influence.
Read alongside: Deuteronomy 22–24
Read the original chapter on EGW Writings ↗A question to sit with
What nearby difficulty have I trained myself not to notice?
Help with an inconvenient task or check that someone owed payment receives it promptly.
Let us pray
Caring Father, open my eyes to burdens I would rather pass by. Teach me fairness in practical dealings and the generosity to offer useful help without seeking praise or control. Amen.
Your quiet reflection
Saved only in this browser. If you share this device, others may be able to read your words.
An original interpretation from The Earl Project, written from an Adventist understanding of Scripture. It is not an official church publication. Read alongside the beliefs that inform these reflections. Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Ellen G. White sources are cited separately from The Earl Project’s original interpretation.