Proverbs 16:11
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A just weight and balance are the LORD'S: all the weights of the bag are his work.
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Should the medication you receive at a hospital be 100%, or 99% pure? How about the settings and accuracy of the diagnostic equipment?
Should the survey pins of your property be accurate to centimeters, inches, feet, or yards?
Do you feel strongly about these questions? Who says that measurements are important? And who is going to do anything about it, if they are not?
More than $5 trillion worth of economic transactions take place in our country each year based on measuring devices. Just a 1% error would be over $50 billion, far greater than the annual budget of most nations.
A typical convenience store sells 100,000 gallons of gasoline a month. If the owner adjusts the pumps to 127 fluid ounces per gallon, which you could not detect even with measuring cups, he could pocket an extra $1,000 per month. Who would know?
The LORD JEHOVAH does. He ordained just weights and measurements; He commands them; and He enforces them (Lev 19:35-36; Deut 25:13-15; Ezek 45:10). One of Israel's sins before being destroyed as a nation was deceitful merchant practices with false balances and weights (Hosea 12:7; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11).
He will judge those who alter them for gain; for that is an abomination to Him; but He delights in their right use (11:1; 20:10,23). Honesty and accuracy in economic transactions did not originate with man; they are from the LORD.
A high compliance with this ordinance of God leads to economic prosperity, as it has in America. When was the last time you measured your Quarter Pounder, milk, gasoline, medication, or survey pins? Economic trade is allowed to move at full speed with full confidence: not because we are a smart nation, but because we follow His ordinance.
Before modern scales, sellers provided a balance and weights (buyers did not want to carry weights everywhere, and who would trust theirs anyway). The extra weights were kept in a bag. Stealing was done two ways: the balance and/or the weights were altered.
Our proverb helps define the eighth commandment, thou shalt not steal (Ex 20:15). For people cut corners in many ways to steal from others, and the LORD condemns them all in order to establish property rights, economic confidence, and professional integrity.
Though our nation has an Office of Weights and Measures, under the authority of the Commerce Department, which regularly inspects public measuring devices, there is still room to cheat by those who do not fear the Lord. We should be thankful for this governmental authority and its protection, but we must apply this proverb to ourselves.
Dear reader, do you steal on the job by purloining, pilfering or small thefts (Tit 2:10). Do you coast through jobs, cut corners from job specs, stretch breaks, or pad the time card. Do you pace yourself and make jobs take longer than they should? Should a windshield be installed perfectly, or almost perfectly? Should a sandwich be made perfectly according to the company's precise menu specifications? Or is close good enough?
When buying things, the LORD condemns pointing out faults and then boasting to others you got a great deal (20:14). For you are using a false balance - to the seller the item was overpriced, and to your friends it was under priced. This is an offence to the Judge of all the earth. Men will even say, "I got a steal!" This is true, for they are truly thieves!
Do you always pay a fair price? When you detect an error in a transaction, do you point it out, even if it costs you more? Do you return extra change from a transaction? You will never get ahead being stingy or tight in your financial dealings (11:24-26; 19:17; 28:8). This is a mark of profane men and why the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.
How do you treat widows (Ex 22:22)? Do you pay their asking prices? Would you pay her more, if she were below market? Would you give a child without a parent a better deal? Consider well, dear reader. The LORD is watching (Deut 10:18; Psalm 68:5).
How did God punish stealing? Restore the stolen amount seven times (6:31); and if you couldn't afford that, then you were sold into slavery (Ex 22:3). Simple, proper, perfect!
How should a Christian conduct himself in this world? Always exceed the expectations of those trusting you, on both the selling and buying sides and in all other economic transactions and professional relationships. You will always come out ahead, for promotion comes from the Lord (Ps 75:6-7). You will grow in favor with God and men.
Honest, accurate, and liberal conduct gives living testimony in the earth of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and will cause others to ask a reason of our hope (I Pet 3:15).
Should a Quarter Pounder weigh four ounces? Should a gallon of milk contain 128 fluid ounces? How about a gallon of gasoline?
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