NOTES for Deu 24:1-22

We always find it very difficult to understand that God calls us into a relationship that embraces every area of our lives. This does not mean that we must immediately give away all our possessions or, for example, all go off to a monastery, or do anything of that sort. It means belonging wholly to God. One-sided distortions are the exact 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 about property relations in Deuteronomy illustrate this very principle: a rich (or not so rich) person may live and work, but not for himself; he may own property, but for God and for his brothers and sisters.