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There is often not much worth reading in the paper but I loved this!

What if today's society lived by these rules?
By Gene ShelburneColumn

Even the most committed Bible readers tend to find the catalogs of laws in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy tedious. Most of us opt to spend our Bible-reading time in other sections of Scripture.
That's unfortunate, for there among the odd laws we may never understand (such as the command not to boil a baby goat in its mother's milk), we can find rules that should be basic to any decent society.
"If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him," God commanded Israel in Exodus 23:4. You say that's not relevant to your city world? But what if you find your neighbor's iPod or his Lexus where it should not be? Is that any concern of yours?
In Deuteronomy 22:2-3, Moses expands the rule about lost donkeys and oxen. To begin with, he said, if the owner of the wandering animal doesn't live close by, whoever finds it is supposed to take it home and keep it safe until the owner comes looking for it.
Then Moses adds, "Do the same if you find your brother's donkey or his coat or anything he loses. Do not ignore it."
Wouldn't it be neat to live in a community where you know all of your possessions are safe, even when they're misplaced or temporarily away from your safekeeping? Jesus had laws like this in mind when he taught that such rules boil down to loving your neighbor as yourself.
How do you want a stranger to treat your valuables if he comes upon them? That's how you should treat his - whether it's his ox or his donkey or his laptop or his wallet. All through this section of our Bible we find simple rules to protect people we could victimize easily. Long before ADA, God warned his people not to mistreat the deaf or the blind (Leviticus 19:14).
"Return a poor man's pawned coat every night so he can sleep in it," God cautioned the rich. "Pay a poor man every day before sunset," he told bosses (Deuteronomy 24:13, 15). Can you see how rules like this would translate into fair practices in today's marketplace?
Doctors take an oath to do no harm with their medical skills. Leviticus implies that all of us should live by such a rule. "Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life," we are instructed (19:16).
Why should we live by such rules? In every case the reason is the same. Over and over the lawgiver reminds us: "I am the Lord."