11:1 – Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.
I was listening to a discussion on the radio this morning about the merits of going to see the movie 50 Shades of Grey.
One of the callers made the comparison that whatever justification a woman may use to see that particular movie is akin to guys who used to say, “I buy Playboy magazine for the articles.”
While there may be some redeeming features about each of them, we tread on dangerous spiritual ground when we dip ourselves in pornography (or literotica).
Then, I read Proverbs 11. I got a totally different interpretation of “dishonest scales.”
What if dishonest scales are the mental gymnastics we go through to justify doing what we know we shouldn’t do, while “a just weight” means also factoring in what God would have us do?
It doesn’t matter if it’s pornography, literotica, alcohol, drugs, keeping the extra change we sometimes get, or any of a thousand different decisions we make. to justify what we know, at some level, to be a wrong choice. All of those choices lead us astray – usually further than we thought they would.
I think about Christ, in the garden, on the eve of his crucifixion. In Mark 14:36, Jesus prayed,
“Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”
If anyone had reason to justify not doing something, it was That Guy. Yet, He weighed what He wanted against what His Father wanted, and chose to allow Himself to be killed for you and for me.
Hmm… Makes us wonder if we’ve got our thumb the scale, doesn’t it?
