Exo 22:10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it.

This is a law regarding trust and responsibility. Suppose a neighbour who is going to be away asks you to keep a donkey or an ox or a sheep or some other animal, and it dies or gets injured or is stolen. The caretaker, or trustee, is liable for the loss. He should be keeping a good watch on the animal entrusted to his safe keeping.

This teaches us that:
1. We ought to be very careful of the thing we are entrusted with. We are to take very good care of it as if it were our own.
2. It is a shame to betray a trust. It tells a lot about one’s character: Irresponsible!
3. The caretaker who has lost his charge has to face the consequence.

What should you do if you were to babysit a child? You just don’t leave him out of your sight; not even for a minute. Just in the news recently, we read of a 3 month old toddler mauled to death by the family pit bulls (three, for that matter) when he was left alone for just five minutes. That’s plain stupidity and downright irresponsible.

Children have fallen from buildings because the persons who were supposed to babysit them left the houses to buy lunch or something else. When interviewed, the reason they gave was that the child was sleeping and so they made a quick dash out of the house to grab something. Apparently, their quick dashes weren’t quick enough to prevent an accident. Irresponsible! Would you get a babysitter for has a bad record for losing her charge?

In 1 Kings 20:35-40, a prophet told a story of how he was entrusted to keep watch of a prisoner of war but then he said to King Ahab: “And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone” (1 Kings 20:40). Careless and irresponsible!

Have you been guilty of being an irresponsible person? It is one thing to lose your own thing, perhaps your wallet or handphone; such is also irresponsible. But it is another matter to lose someone else’s thing; it’s irresponsible and untrustworthy.

Think about these two actions:
1. IRRESPONSIBLE – “And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9).
Comment: Is that the way to treat your brother?

2. RESPONSIBLE – “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).
Comment: This is the Christian’s way – we are keepers of our brethren. We are responsible for our brethren: “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1).

Our Lord came to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10). We have a responsibility to every one who has been saved. We are to keep the saved and ensure they remain saved. We do not wish to lose anyone whom Christ has saved.

So, brethren, while we try to save the lost, let us not lose the saved. “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).

In the judgment day, God will ask each and every one of us: “Where is Abel thy brother?” (Genesis 4:9). What will be your answer?

Jimmy Lau
Psa 119:97 Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.