Common Sense and Uplifting Others

Today I read Exodus 23 where the Lord continues giving instructions for how to be a good person.  Most of the rules He gives them are just common sense to me honestly.  And yet, I started thinking about it, and why was the culture so very different?  Does the culture define the times, or do the times define the culture?  What I mean is, during the 19th century, people made a very clear change in attitude and how they were acting and truthfully it started even before that.  But what caused the people to make that change?  Why are traits that we now take for granted and view as common sense, why were they cultivated?

And truthfully I say they are common sense and yet the world seems full of people that seem to not have the very common sense I am speaking of.  Just yesterday I was reading an article about someone who sued a company over a product, Nutella, a chocolate morning bread spread, because they found out that it was not healthy for their child.  Not only that, but the lawsuit left it open for any one else who was similarly "duped" to get compensation for buying the same product.  I bring that up because the Lord talks about lawsuits in this chapter and how we should not try and subvert justice and yet, it seems like that is all we do in our country these days.  Our legal system, especially the litigation part of it, is a joke, a complete mess.  And greedy, evil people take advantage of it all the time.  I wonder what such people will do/feel when they stand before their creator and He asks them if they were honest with their fellow man?

I was surprised to see elements of what I consider to be the higher law in this chapter too.  For example, the Lord tells them that if they see an ox or ass of their enemy that has gone astray, they are to return the animal to their enemy.  That strikes me as remarkably similar to the idea that we should do good to them that hate us.  So it would seem that even though the Lord was telling the Israelites how to behave in each and every situation and giving them a very basic law, there were still elements of the higher law that Jesus taught when He came mixed in.  That's good.  It's always a good idea to help others rise above where they are.  It reminds me of President Uchtdorf's talk "Lift where you stand".  If we lift other around us, the world would be such a better place.  Until tomorrow.