Every day in our davening we say, "He tells His words to Yaakov, His statutes and His laws to Israel." Our Rabbis teach us that "His words" and "His laws" mean that the mitzvos that HaShem asks us to do are also His: HaShem Himself fulfills the mitzvos which He commands us.

This week's parshah, Mishpatim, has many mitzvos. Let us take one of those mitzvos - the mitzvah of lending money to a person in need - and see how HaShem fulfills it.

When we give someone a loan, it seems as if we are giving away something for nothing. That person is not giving us anything back immediately for the money we gave him, but of course, we expect to get it back one day. We trust him, even if he is a poor person.

Now let us try to understand how HaShem fulfills this mitzvah. Like a person lending another some money, HaShem "lends" each and every neshamah the special strength and ability to fulfill His will.

As with a loan, the neshamah gets its strength "for free." But HaShem expects that, in return, our neshamah will pay back the loan by using this strength to fulfill His mitzvos.

HaShem is very generous and grants each neshamah many powers, whether or not it deserves them. The passuk says, "If you will lend money to My people" - HaShem loves us and calls us "My people"; that in itself makes us worthy of this loan.

When we lend money, we do not tell the borrower how to use that money. It becomes his, and he can use it for whatever he wants. When HaShem gives us a "loan," it also becomes ours. We can use the strength and power He gives our neshamah for anything we choose. We must do our best to make the right choices. We must show HaShem that we are worthy of this loan, and "pay it back" by using the strength He gives us to fulfill His will.

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. I, p. 158)