Deuteronomy 24:10-13
“When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.
Subject: Love and grace for others
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of the Law was, He said to love God with al your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. The entire Law can be wrapped up in those two laws. The above portion of the Law is an example of what Jesus was saying. In the above law the treatment of someone who owed you a debt is much hire than the debt itself. If someone owed you a debt they would often give you a "pledge" - something of value to hold until they could pay you. That something might often be their "cloak" or the covering they used to keep warm in the coldness of the night. If that were the case, the person who is owed the debt was not to keep the cloak or coat or covering, but allow the debtor to have the pledge to keep warm at night. It is supposed they would, in the morning, return the pledge to the debtor until the debt was paid. God's character is coming into to play here as He wants the nation of Israel to treat others with respect, kindness and grace, despite the debt they may owe. This is where loving others like yourself would come to play. We would not want to sleep in the cold without our covering. So, too, we should not have others in debt to us do so. Love and grace for others trumps collection of a debt.
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