Weekly Devotional - "Do What Is Just and Right" - December 19

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

DO WHAT IS JUST AND RIGHT

Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

Proverbs 23:10-11

The Israelites acquired their land by conquest, and every tribe and family considered its allotment or inheritance as a gift from God. David said, The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance (Psalm 16:6). With contentment and gratitude He acknowledged that all he had was a gift from God.

Boundary stones were a common way of marking off property lines. Sadly, some didn’t see these stones as set in stone. They moved them to the right or the left, depending on what was most advantageous to them. It was subtle, a little push here, a small nudge there. They’d do just enough to gain the upper hand without being detected.

It’s today’s equivalent to fudging on your taxes or your timecard, cheating the system, taking company resources for personal use, or withholding your tithe. What seems like a small thing in man’s eyes is theft in God’s.

God gives warning in Scripture: Do not move an ancient boundary stone (Proverbs 22:28, Deuteronomy 19:14, 27:17, Hosea 5:10). The consequences listed within these verses include being cursed and God’s wrath being poured out like a flood of water.

God desires that we be people of integrity who do what is just and right, especially in our relationships with the fatherless and widow. He is their Defender (Proverbs 23:10). He will take up their case against those who deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless (Isaiah 10:2).

We’re in the midst of a season where there are ministries far and near (including GEMS!) asking for gifts, prayers, time, and resources to help the needy, widows, and fatherless. This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place (Jeremiah 22:33).

Whether making decisions within the boundary lines He’s entrusted to you or responding to the boundary lines of the poor and needy, be a woman of integrity: Do what is just and right!

Wisdom Step: Read Psalm 82:3. How will you obey this command today?

Lord, to those who hunger, give bread. And to those who have bread, give the hunger for justice.

Latin American Prayer