Being a Good Neighbor- Deut 22
As I read Deut 22, I had to smile. All I could think about was this dog who used to live across the road from us. He was an escape artist. They had a fence around their yard but somehow he would always get out. His timing for escaping was always when his family was not home and I was on my way somewhere. My mind would have a battle. I would tell myself that he was not my responsibility and it might teach him a lesson to stay in the yard. On the other hand, we did live near a busy highway and they were our neighbors. I also thought about what I would want someone else to do if Buddy got out of our yard. So with the help of the kids, we would corner the dog and either get him back in his yard or keep him in ours until the family got home. A few years later, we were grateful for a lady who was not our neighbor who found our Buddy after he had gotten out of our yard. He had mostly like been hit by a car and was a little bruised. This lady took him to the vet and through a chip in the dog located and called us.
All this to say that Deut 22 talks alot about being a good neighbor by helping out when you see a need. The need could be a lost animal, broken down transportation, or even just putting in safety railings to prevent accidents. Of course, this chapter has other things to say about other subjects but all I could think about was chasing after that dog.