“The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him” - Proverbs 20:23 (NIV).
It is a well known habit among many butchers. A customers orders a kilogram of beef. The butcher uses a weighing scale that seem to prove one kilogram. What the customer is not aware of is that the weighing scale has been adjusted and once it tips one kilogram it is actually far less. The customer walks away happily satisfied he has a kilo under tuck, only that he has been cheated.
The Bible says, “The LORD detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him” (Proverbs 11:1). These practices so common around, whether at an adjusted pump station or pharmacy counter dispensing fake drugs, ache the heart of God and rob from us the favor He has promised us.
Being dishonest can become a way of life. It is all about taking advantage of someone who is taken for a fool because one has pulled a fast one or is not aware of the facts. We see it all the time among politicians scouting for votes as they promise heaven and earth while laughing with mouthfuls, for upon accessing office that is the last one hears of either. There are judges who dispense justice in favor of someone who has bribed them that some people have decided to shun courts to solve conflicts. We find examiners who grade poorly those who have not coughed them expected dues. In certain homes some children grow up put at a distance just because of being from a different set of parents.
Once a land lacks fairness in its treatment of one another, people resort to a number of ways to size up. Sometimes they too decide to live a life of pulling a fast one on “every fool” meaning in the end everyone has to watch their backs. But even worse, those hurt, sometime return nothing but curses, for those that have caused them to suffer slight. There are those children once slighted who grow up filled with bitterness, and can’t wait to desert or find an opportunity to get even.
Fairness is one of the blessings from the Almighty God, resulting in His blessings. “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.. Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land” (Psalm 28:10-13). Let us be fair with one another.
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray for the heart of fairness, for you are a fair and just God, this I pray in Jesus’s name.
Related upcoming events
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06/05/2024 - 07/05/2024 All day“Do not confirm to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2)
Almost all cultivators are aware that if soils are used perpetually without rains but constantly under work they are deprived of all nutrients. So, though once productive, they lose all power to yield fresh crops as before. But so is our Christian life when we do not regularly feed our spirit life with the Word!
In our leading verse, the Apostle Paul is urging believers to “renew” their minds rather than make them stale, lest they end up losing all power to yield fruit. But how is this done? We renew our minds by constantly reading the Word of God, for there are always insights with God speaking to us afresh. Psalm 119:104-5 says, “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” The Apostle Peter reminds us, “Like newborn babies hungry for milk, you should want the pure teaching that feeds your spirit. With it you can grow and be saved.” It is a beautiful illustration for any who have seen a hungry baby sucking the teats of a mother.
Renewing our minds is also by reading about the lives of people of faith who have walked before us and their created works. The Christian faith started in the first century after Jesus was crucified and resurrected from the dead. Now over two millenniums it has produced giants of faith who have shared their walk with God through inspired teachings that are a treasure to dig into. By scouring the writings of the great saints before us, listening to their recorded sermons, songs and preaching, which these days can be found on virtual medial channels like Yu tube, reading their biographies, our faith is renewed.
And then we also renew our faith through fellowship. When the Apostle Paul urges us, “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” ( Hebrews 10:25), he is reminding us that our faith cannot grow in isolation. During the Covid pandemic lockdown one bitter issue was denying Believers opportunity to meet fellow followers of Christ to share testimonies showing the work of God in their lives.
So today, if your faith is on a low keel, or you want it to flower, one thing you can’t help doing without is “renewing” your mind. The blessings to unfold are endless.
Prayer for today:Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, what a treasure we have of your rich Word to dig into always; books around us of faith to inspire us; and believers to share our faith- may we make use of these, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
