HONEST SCALES
Amos 8:4-7
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land,
saying, "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the
Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?"--skimping the measure,
boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: "I will never forget anything
they have done.
“We must
not forget that when the Hebrew prophets talked about the plight of the poor,
they focused not on the behavior of the poor, but on the behavior of the
privileged and powerful. The cross deconstructs moral superiority. And the
faith that sets women and men free, the grace of justification, releases them
to work passionately for social justice and the good of their neighbors.” ii
Christian,
you are free from self-concern. God has enlightened you to the providential
care that he promises to all his people. When we realize that God is meeting
our needs, we can take more of our energy and thoughts to focus on others. We
are free from worry about our future and how specific needs will be met. Jesus
says “don’t sweat the details”. We are to turn our attention toward others,
both those inside and outside the church.
Look at the
lives of the saints of the past and present. They had very little in the way of
worldly wealth or possessions. But they were rich in relationships. They had
many people that were in constant touch with them. They met the material needs
of others in order to find opportunities to share the freedom they already
possessed through their relationship to God. These saints lived to serve,
minister, disciple and mentor the children of God. They left family, friends
and often the church to embark on global missions to the lost throughout the
world. You can read about them ministering to drunks along the Bowery in New
York City, peasant farmers in China, diamond miners in South Africa, and
elsewhere.
It’s not
the rich who are free to serve. They are bound to their possessions. But
rather, it is the child of God; freed from earthly concerns who is truly free
to serve the living God by lovingly serving others.
Prayer: Father, do not allow the gifts you give me
in life to blind me to the needs of others. Help me to know the truth that your
gifts to me are to glorify you in being used to help your people and reach the
lost. Amen.
