Cutting Corners
Cutting Corners.
“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.”
Leviticus 19:9-10
When we think of cutting corners we think of taking a short cut or not completing a task all the way. The origination of that phrase can be found as far back as the mid-1800’s.
After doing my morning Bible reading, I now have another way of looking at cutting corners. A sort of glass half full, verses half empty thing.
My grandfather used to tell me, “when you do a job don’t cut corners”. I used to think this meant not to take shortcuts.
However, in Leviticus, it used to say that the corners of fields should be left for the poor and the stranger that passes by. It gives the cutting of corners a different meaning.
I have often wondered why the corners of a field with a crop were not cut. Maybe because it isn’t as economical as mowing it.
I know when I mow our fields on nearly eight acres, the mower attached to the tractor doesn’t get close to the corners. I have to pull past the corner and then back up to try and mow it, or easier yet, just leave it.
It was said in The Law, to leave the corner of your fields by not “wholly reaping” the crop so that travelers and the poor could have it. It was an offering to them that went without.
The same was said for the vineyard and any crop. Don’t harvest the entire thing, leave some for those that don’t have anything.
I remember growing up that my grandparents would tell my brother and I to eat everything on our plate, not to leave anything. They would add that there were people starving around the world that weren’t as lucky as us to have food and that we shouldn’t waste it. My brother and I thought that if we left the food we didn’t like, the starving could eat it.
It was a stark contrast to leaving something for others or the less fortunate and the reasoning wasn’t quite as sound.
Either way, I believe the meanings change over the years and get applied differently and not as intentionally as originally intended.
We must remember that the less-than-fortunate are also to be provided for. This is biblical.
I am constantly reminded through God’s word that I am not the decider of who this is. And that everything we have or think we have, belongs to God.
After Jesus walked the earth and died for our sins, we were reconciled with God and forgiven for our sins. Not that The Law was a bad thing, but Jesus came to die for our sins to reconcile us with God through forgiveness. Our hearts and the Holy Spirit indwelling in us, would guide us.
What I find remarkable about not “wholly reaping” a crop, is that it identified so early on, that helping others was a good thing.
More than Law, it was a matter of tradition to leave something for those who didn’t have anything. It became part of life.
And it wasn’t as if you were leaving what you didn’t want. It was leaving something useable. This could be seen as an offering to the poor, the traveler or the needy.
We are commanded to help those less fortunate than we are and it doesn’t mean it has to be something we don’t have. We never know how something we don’t view as valuable can be helpful to someone else.
Find a church, be around like-minded Christians, lead a Christ-centered life, be in the Bible everyday and pray.
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”
Galatians 5:13-15
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”
Galatians 5:16-18