A Holiday Disaster
We left the fish in the care of our housemate.
Reference: ““If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to their neighbour for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking,” Exodus 22:10 NIV
Explore: A long time ago my husband used to have pet fish. He lashed out one time, converted one tank to warm, salt water and purchased expensive tropical fish.
A few months later we went on holidays and left the fish in the care of our housemate. While we were away our house had a power outage so the heater in the tank stopped working.
Our house mate came home to a tank full of dead fish and a very sick sea anemone.
She felt terrible. We had limited internet access so it was quite a few days later before we found out.
Fortunately, for our house mate, my husband is very understanding and knew it wasn’t her fault. While we were a long way away we tried to appease her concern but she still felt so bad she offered to pay for more fish.
Application: This story is not a new one. People often go on holidays only to return to find their pets have run away or made life very difficult for their carers.
It seems that in all the laws in Exodus there is even one to cover this situation! That being said, when it comes to pets it’s usually the emotional connection that is irreplaceable rather than the animal having a monetary value.
To replace something you’ve damaged makes sense. It seems God had to outline common sense to the people to create some fairness across the nation.
Even in our own world today our law courts have become full of cases that seem quite far fetched. It’s become a bit of a joke as to what lengths people will go to get money out of someone else.
When you read through these laws we see that God wants to bring as much fairness to the table as possible. And that’s what we should do too.
It can often be challenging, but when we’re in conflict it’s good to step back and consider what is fair for all parties. And if we can’t remove ourselves emotionally, then getting an impartial party involved can help too.
We live in a fallen world but let’s bring as much of God’s fairness into people’s lives as possible.
Prayer: Lord, our world is not always fair but may we draw from Your wisdom and act according to Your word. Amen.
When have you seen an injustice being done?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.