Be Careful Little Hands...

This continues a series on Proverbs & Money.

Proverbs 11:1

A false balance

is an abomination

to the LORD,

but a just weight

is his delight.

It’s very tempting, isn’t it? “Taking a little skim off the top will be inconsequential and anonymous”, we argue with ourselves; “besides, they don’t need or deserve it as much as I do”. More often than we care to admit, we allow our thinking to drift into such a dialogue when faced with the choice to either transact even-handedly, or instead exact a disproportionate share of the deal for our own benefit.

The imbalanced scales takes many forms in our lives. It can range from clocking a bogus 15 minutes on the time-clock, to shying away from a material disclosure on the sale of your used auto, to looting the office supply bin of your employer, or all the way down to my 3 year old son who tries to cunningly take toys away from his little brother.

So why does God abhor these seemingly inconsequential actions? It is partially because this form of stealing cuts the legs out from a God who stands ready to provide our every need. Such lack of faith in His promises ultimately robs God of His sovereign prerogative to bless His creation. He does not ask us to take matters into our own hand and then lining our own pockets. God delights in giving His children good gifts, apart from our slippery intervention. 

Beyond this, questionable dealing does not reflect the character of a God who ALWAYS weighs each transaction perfectly. In fact, the weight of your sin against such a God has created an overwhelming imbalance on the left side of the scales. You will never be able to pay and God doesn’t work pro bono. Sure, we’ll tend to try and balance it out in our own strength with a few good works here or there, along with some charitable giving now and then, but in the end the divine scales of justice will not budge. Thankfully, God stands at the ready once again to provide the payment! God’s forgiveness doesn’t ignore the transaction costs, it instead satisfies them in full through the Son “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).

For your own delight, run to Him today for payment in full, and then go reflect Him in all of your affairs from this day forward.

All posts in this "Proverbs and Money" series were submitted by a friend of Aaron's who wishes to remain anonymous.