Leaving the Edges

​In Bucks County Pennsylvania it is wheat harvest time. I love looking across the rolling, expansive, golden-brown fields ready to be cut. The farmer determines if the crop is ready by pressing his fingernail into the kernel. If no mark is left, the grain is ideal for harvest. It is called winter wheat and would have been sown in the fall. Once the crop is inspected and ready for harvest, the farmer brings in a combine harvester. This one machine does several operations: It cuts the stalks, threshes the grain (by separating the grain from the husk), and blows out the waste (called winnowing). The next machine to come onto the field is a baler. It collects the wheat stems and compresses them into cylindrical or rectangular bales. Then they are transported to be used to feed livestock or as a fertilizer additive. In the meantime, the harvested grain is loaded onto trucks and taken to local farm buildings. There it is dropped into tall steel or concrete silos to be processed into flour.
 
Something I noticed about local harvesting is that it is done to the very edge of the field. Such a practice would have been unacceptable in Biblical days. Leviticus 19:22 says, "When you reap the harvest of your land do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God." This law of leftovers is repeated in Deuteronomy 24:19. "When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for a foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." Verse 22 explains further: "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this."
 
The Jews call this tradition "Pe'ah" or "leaving the corners or edges." As we can see in the Deuteronomy Scripture, when we show compassion and generosity to those who are less fortunate than we are, it touches the heart of God, and He promises to bless us. This was also a way of preserving the dignity of the needy by allowing them to harvest the food for themselves. We can see this played out in the book of Ruth. "One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 'Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain. Maybe someone will be kind enough to let me gather the grain he leaves behind.' Naomi said to her, 'Go, my daughter.' So, Ruth went to the fields to gather the grain the reapers left behind..." (Ruth 2: 2, 3 - TPT)
 
Today, as we do not live in an agrarian society, how can we apply the principle of leaving the edges? First, we must not live a marginless life. When we use everything we have, including money, time, and energy, we open the door to exhaustion and fear, fear that we will not have enough. The root of living like this is lack of faith. We must believe that God will provide for our needs. As the Bible says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…”
(Matthew 6:19, 20 - NKJ) Second, a Christian has the obligation to take care of those in need in our communities. The underlying purpose of "leaving the edges" can be demonstrated through acts of charity or kindness.
 
We live in a society where people spend all that they have to satisfy their desires for the latest and greatest vehicle or computer or gadget of the day. The responsibility to live within their means has been forgotten. There is nothing left for a rainy day or to help others. Let us take Hebrew 13:5 to heart as it is a promise from God for us to embrace. "Don't be obsessed with money, but live content with what you have, for you always have God's presence. For hasn't He promised you, 'I will never leave you alone, never! And I will not loosen my grip on your life.” (TPT)