Cutting Corners

“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 23:22

Cutting corners is when we leave small details undone in order to save time, but sometimes the little things are what makes the difference between mediocrity and excellence. If a farmer were trying to save time during harvest, he might not reap all the way into the corner of the field. If he were in a hurry, he might not stop to pick up what he dropped along the way. Because of his haste, he would probably experience a less-than-optimum total harvest, and his profit margins would probably shrink.

In Leviticus, God commanded the Israelites to cut corners, but it wasn’t to save time. It was God’s plan for the poor and the strangers have a way to provide for their families. As they were working in the fields, the Israelites were not to reap in the corners and they were not supposed to go back and pick up the gleanings in the field. This created an opportunity for less fortunate people to come behind them and find something to sustain them, as long as they were willing to go out and reap the corners and pick up the gleanings. Our society is structured differently, but the principle of helping the poor and needy has not changed. Can you think of a way that you could “cut corners” in order to help someone in need?