NOTES for Deu 24:1-22
It is always very hard for us to understand that God calls us to a relationship that embraces every sphere of our life. This does not mean that we must immediately give away all our possessions or, for example, all go off to a monastery, or anything of the sort. It means belonging entirely to God. One-sided distortions are precisely the opposite of this approach: either donate a bundle of money to the poor while remaining without God and outside prayer, or withdraw from the world and begin to live a “purely spiritual life.” Today's laws concerning property relations in Deuteronomy illustrate this very principle: a wealthy (and not so wealthy) person may live and work, but not for himself; he may own his property, but for God and for his brothers.