A just balance and scales belong to the LORD; All the weights of the bag are His concern. Proverbs 16:11
When it comes to how we live - and how we do business - God is concerned with how we proceed in integrity. Thus we find today's proverb. It deals with the call for a just balance and scales. Since this was an agricultural society, most if not everything was sold by weight. Thus the scales that a person used was the most important part of the transaction, since a false weight and scales would be a deceptive business owner who was trying to cheat his customers.
God desires a just balance and scales. The Lord wants us to be honest in business - to be fair and equitable. The "weights" mentioned later were actually rocks that were a standard of measure. These rocks needed to be a certain weight. The way that they maintained measurements was by having the temple regulating them. This is why the statement is made about all the weights of the bag being God's concern. There was the shekel of the sanctuary - as well as the various weights that were used there. These weights were considered the official weights of the society. If someone thought that a weight was being skewed in its true weight - the official sanctuary weights would be the place where they would be checked. If there was cheating going on, they would be punished for their unjust and ungodly standards.
What we are told here though goes beyond that. We are told that all the weights of the bag are not just kept at the temple - they are kept in the thoughts of God Almighty. They are his concern. That takes the whole idea of integrity in the workplace to another level. The Lord is keeping track of our weights and measurements. He knows the work ethic that we seek to maintain - and He knows every time that we use an unjust weight or measure. Surely in our society as well as in theirs, there were men who sought to bend the rules to their adantage. And, like in our society, we cannot catch everyone who seeks to be unjust in their business dealings. But we do have a God who can see eery transaction - every time we weigh out our time, our efforts, and our produce. He sees and knows what we are doing - and He also realizes that in the end - the place of judgment will be His throne. Oh that we might learn this - and walk through this world with the appropriate fear of God - and respect for His commandments. Yes there will be those who think they can "get away" with it as they cheat others. But the reality is that those who do such things never get away with it. The Lord holds all the weights of the bag - and the judgment for not just religious works - but for how we operate in business as well - will be before Him.
When it comes to how we live - and how we do business - God is concerned with how we proceed in integrity. Thus we find today's proverb. It deals with the call for a just balance and scales. Since this was an agricultural society, most if not everything was sold by weight. Thus the scales that a person used was the most important part of the transaction, since a false weight and scales would be a deceptive business owner who was trying to cheat his customers.
God desires a just balance and scales. The Lord wants us to be honest in business - to be fair and equitable. The "weights" mentioned later were actually rocks that were a standard of measure. These rocks needed to be a certain weight. The way that they maintained measurements was by having the temple regulating them. This is why the statement is made about all the weights of the bag being God's concern. There was the shekel of the sanctuary - as well as the various weights that were used there. These weights were considered the official weights of the society. If someone thought that a weight was being skewed in its true weight - the official sanctuary weights would be the place where they would be checked. If there was cheating going on, they would be punished for their unjust and ungodly standards.
What we are told here though goes beyond that. We are told that all the weights of the bag are not just kept at the temple - they are kept in the thoughts of God Almighty. They are his concern. That takes the whole idea of integrity in the workplace to another level. The Lord is keeping track of our weights and measurements. He knows the work ethic that we seek to maintain - and He knows every time that we use an unjust weight or measure. Surely in our society as well as in theirs, there were men who sought to bend the rules to their adantage. And, like in our society, we cannot catch everyone who seeks to be unjust in their business dealings. But we do have a God who can see eery transaction - every time we weigh out our time, our efforts, and our produce. He sees and knows what we are doing - and He also realizes that in the end - the place of judgment will be His throne. Oh that we might learn this - and walk through this world with the appropriate fear of God - and respect for His commandments. Yes there will be those who think they can "get away" with it as they cheat others. But the reality is that those who do such things never get away with it. The Lord holds all the weights of the bag - and the judgment for not just religious works - but for how we operate in business as well - will be before Him.
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