You shall not have in your bag differing weights,a large and a small.You shall not have in your house differing measures,a large and a small.You shall have a full and just weight;you shall have a full and just measure,that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the Lord your God[.ttp://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2025:13-16&version=NASB#en-NASB-5561]
I have always believed that The Bible is the living,breathing word of God."Nothing,"I exclaim,"Is etched in stone in The Bible(except,of course,the 10 commandments.";-).
What I mean by this is that as humyn kind grows the words in the good book continue to teach.Simply put,this means that the Bible continues to be a learning tool even with scripture that has seemingly become outdated.
The above verses are a good example of this Biblical learning curve.At first glance,this law would seemingly to make no sense.Those with little,no-or flawed- knowledge of ancient times could easily misinterpret this piece of literature[in my opinion,an all too common modern (un)intentional Biblical practice,today].
In fact,this is a verse about fair business practices.When selling something by weight,use fair and balanced scales.Do not use heavy scales to sell less product.Don't use a lighter scale when taking some one's gold.BE FAIR IN YOUR BUSINESS DEALINGS!
In my belief,in this modern day & age,when a pound of coffee sells now for 11.5 oz,this verse is anything but antiquated.
When 'fair and balanced' now stands for blatant propaganda:an unbalanced weight(!),my point about The Bible being the living,breathing word of God is practically made for me.
When corporations uses sleight of hand as a common business practice,this set of verses practically shouts out the words of God.
But are these verses just about commerce?
The Catholic church uses the government as a crutch not to acknowledge a priest's misconduct,or even to reimburse the underage victims and give them their just due.The church,then,shouts that this self said same government is unjust because the church doesn't believe in giving reproductive rights to hired non-church members.Is Christ's church using different wights and measures?
And,what about us?Are we exempt from using balanced scales?Do we,for instance,set different standards for those we like then with those whom we oppose?Do we hold the Democrats to a higher or lower standard then the Republicans?Is it justified for us,but not for them?If something is alright for us to do,but not for them,does this mean we hold our opposition to higher standards then we do for ourselves?
Heaven forbid!
See what happens when we use The Bible as the living,breathing word of God?We find out not just what to do,but,also,what we shouldn't.
Yes,of course this means studying the word.It also means contemplation,and,can I say prayer?
But,also,a fair measure means to be be fair with all people in all of your dealings.Tolerance;blind justice...for all peoples.
We could use more-not less- of this today.
The Bible not relevant?I don't think so.
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