Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly. (Deuteronomy 25:13-16 NIV)
About ten years ago, I went to the bank to deposit a check. It turned into one of the weirdest days of my life. If I remember right, the check was for $2100. I wanted to deposit $1400 and get $700 in cash. Make sense? Pretty easy. I went through the drive through, and they sent out an envelope and receipt. I counted the cash and drove back to church. When I got to my office, I looked over the receipt. The receipt said that I had deposited $2800. Did you catch what had happened? Instead of subtracting the $700 in cash from the deposit, the teller added an additional $700 to the deposit. So I got $700 in cash and $700 more in the bank for $1400 in free money! I was stunned. What should I do? Reluctantly, I decided I better go back to the bank to correct it.
This time I went inside the bank and explained the situation, “I received $1400 too much.” The banker corrected the mistake. Before I left, I decided to look closely at the receipt. Instead of taking away the extra $1400, she had added another $1400 to our bank account! I couldn’t believe it. Was this some sort of test? Would I get a prize if I did the right thing? The banker wondered why I didn’t leave. “Is there a problem?” “Well,” I said, “I think you just gave me another $1400.” She took the receipt and mumbled something and removed the entire $2800. And there was not a prize. I was not on Candid Camera. I went quietly back to church by myself.
I still remember what my heart was feeling that day. Every step of the way, do you know what I was thinking inside? “I’m rich. This is great! Just keep the money. Nobody needs to know. It’s their mistake. God must want me to have this!” It’s kind of embarrassing what goes through our minds, isn’t it? I learned that day that there is always a temptation to be dishonest to get ahead. Do you know what I mean? Isn’t it always a goal of ours to suddenly get a lot of money without working for it? Nobody will know, right? It’s all good as long as you don’t get caught, right?
Except there is Someone who always knows: God! God is very concerned about our attitude toward money. He told the Israelites long ago: “Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small.” There were no coins in the days of Moses. No paper money. I recently learned that they didn’t even have credit cards! How were transactions carried out? By weighing and measuring things. It was very tempting to have differing weights and measures to benefit yourself in transactions.
So God told his people, “Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light.” Can you imagine what a greedy person could do? When he was buying something, he would use a heavy weight to measure it out, so he would get more. But when he was selling something, he would secretly switch to a light weight to give out as little as possible. Both weights might be the same size, but their weight would be different. Understand? See the temptation to be dishonest?
It was the same for measures. “Do not have two different measures in your house—one large, one small.” For something like grain, you would measure it with a basket, not with a weight. Can you imagine how a greedy person could use different measures? When he bought something, he would use a large basket and fill it up full. But when he sold something, he would secretly switch to a smaller basket to give out less. Over time, he could make himself rich dishonestly.
If all of this seems old-fashioned, it isn’t! When you go to a gas pump, what sticker do you see on it? “Inspected by the Oklahoma Bureau of Weights and Measures.” Why does every state need a Bureau of Weights and Measures? Because it’s always a temptation to be dishonest to get ahead. The national standard for a gas pump is that it needs to be accurate to 0.3%. That means if you get 10 gallons of gas, you should be getting between 9.97 and 10.03 gallons. Isn’t it the same everywhere? No! I couldn’t find any stats for Oklahoma, but I read of another state in which 1 out of every 7 things they test has the wrong measure. 1 out of every 7! Honest weights matter.
At least, they matter to God. Our God who loves truth and honesty told his people, “You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.” When it comes to money and business dealings, God wants his people to be “accurate and honest.” To be dishonest, to let greed lead you to cheat or lie, is detestable to God. That’s a strong word—detestable! “God detests anyone who deals dishonestly.”
As I studied this, I was surprised to see how often the Old Testament talks about weights and measures. This is a big deal to God! “The LORD detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him” (Proverbs 11:1). “Differing weights and differing measures—the LORD detests them both” (Proverbs 20:10). “Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights?” (Micah 6:11). In Amos 8, God declared that he was going to judge the people. For what? “…skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales” (Amos 8:5). The Israelites had sinned greatly against God. How? They used dishonest weights!
Do we have that same attitude about honesty? About always doing the right thing when it comes to money and business? I don’t think so. Oh, we don’t want other people to cheat us. That’s true! We get really upset if someone takes advantage of us. But when it comes to us, it’s fair as long as you don’t get caught, right? Or as long as you have enough money to get yourself out of trouble if you do get caught, right? It seems to me that we’ll even praise people who cheat to get ahead. “He’s shrewd. She’s smart! Everybody is just trying to get ahead. What’s wrong with that?”
Here’s what the Bible says: Greed is not praiseworthy. Greed is one of the Seven Deadly Sins that Christians from long ago have recognized we need to watch out for. Why? A heart that loves money, a heart that’s willing to do anything to get money, doesn’t have room for God. Jesus put it pretty powerfully: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25). Paul wrote: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10). Do you believe that? Do you use honest weights? Greed lurks in our hearts, and our sinful natures want to convince us that we need to cheat to get ahead.
That’s what hit home for me on that weird day at the bank. How excited my heart gets about money. How eager my heart is to get more money by any means possible. How tempting it is to make excuses for getting money dishonestly. How much I don’t want to have to trust in God. “I need to get myself ahead. This is how I can take care of myself. I don’t want to have to rely on anyone else.” What word am I saying a lot? I. Who’s missing? God. Nothing says, “I don’t trust you, God!” like when we feel the need to be dishonest to get ahead. I need to hear God’s Word: “The LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.”
Because that’s not where blessing comes from. Dealing dishonestly is not how people get blessed. You realize that, right? There was a little phrase in our lesson that’s easy to overlook: “…the land the LORD your God is giving you.” The greatest physical blessing that the Israelites were to receive was the land of Canaan. How were they going to get it? “…the land the LORD your God is giving you.” It was a gift. A gift of God’s grace! The prosperity of the Israelites didn’t depend on dishonest weights. It depended on the LORD. If the LORD was so gracious to give them their entire land, do you think he was gracious enough to give them some grain to eat? To give them some wine to drink? Yes! What did they need to do? To trust in the LORD.
He’s done even more for us. You know that, right? God has done even more for us. He hasn’t just given us a land. He’s given us himself. Jesus came and died on the cross and forgave our sins and gave us eternal life. And it’s all a gift! “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). God has given so much to us. And here’s the Bible’s promise: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). God has given us the biggest blessings of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus. Not by our scheming. It’s all a gift of God’s grace!
So do you think God is going to provide the smaller things we need too? Yes! If God in his grace has given us forgiveness for our sins through Jesus, do you think he’s going to provide food for us today? Yes! If God in his grace has given us eternal life in heaven by faith in Jesus, do you think he’s able to provide us with homes on earth? Yes! You don’t need two different weights. You don’t need two different measures. Instead, the Bible encourages us to work with our hands. To busy ourselves with the energy and talents that God gives us. And to trust that God will provide for us at the right time. When you trust in the LORD, you can use honest weights.
What a contrast we saw in our first lesson between the prophet Elisha and his servant Gehazi. When Naaman was cured of his leprosy, he wanted to give lavish gifts to Elisha. But what did Elisha say? “No!” Elisha wanted to keep trusting in the LORD. Gehazi, on the other hand, felt his master was crazy. It sounds like he loved money. He ran after Naaman, lied to him, and came home with a bunch of stuff. He hide it all, of course, so that no one would know. But who knew? God. And God told Elisha. And Gehazi received the leprosy that Naaman had just been cured of. What a contrast! Elisha ran after the LORD. Gehazi ran after wealth. It made a big difference!
Whom are you running after? “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus encourages Christians to focus on Jesus and his kingdom and his grace and to trust that God will provide all that we need for life. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Run after the LORD. Seek him. And trust that he will provide, even when you use honest weights.
In fact, Jesus gives Christians a promise. He once said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). If we cheat others, do you know what God is easily able to do? Let us lose it all. But if we trust in God and treat others generously, do you know what God is easily able to do? Take care of us! “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.” Use honest weights, and trust in the LORD!
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
Comentários