2 August | EVERYONE

WHAT IS FAIR AND HONEST

«You shall have honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.» Ezekiel 45: 10

Andrea Lessing, a young woman who worked in a thrift store, found $42,000 in 100-dollar bills in a jacket pocket. Everyone, probably, would think twice before deciding what to do with that kind of money, but she immediately reported the find to the store manager. When asked why she had that attitude, her immediate response was, “Because I’m a Christian.”

Honesty and justice are virtues that sin wears away, but God throughout the ages sought a people made up of men and women who were willing to reflect His character to the nations of the Earth. People who do not limit their religious life to the four walls of the temple, but who dared to live its principles on a daily basis.

Reading Andrea’s news, many people might think, “But what a fool she was.” We live in times when honesty is confused with naivety, and dishonesty is called skill. Strong winds of human rationalism drag values into the abyss of indifference, dark clouds populate the blue sky and blacken it; it may become more difficult, or rarer, to live with values and exalt them every day. However, when Christians live in daily communion with Jesus, honesty and other qualities are the ripe fruit of faith.

By Ezekiel’s time, honesty had waned. Brother deceived brother every time he sold him wheat or any other product. For profit, the seller manipulated the scales, distorted the weight measurements, thus causing loss to the buyer. It was part of the culture of those days, and yet the prophet warns the people of the ensuing divine displeasure.

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Today is a day to live the moral and spiritual values that you cherish in your heart. Today can be a day when your face shines with the glory of God.