Just Business

"Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath."

Ezekiel 45:10

God's people were to be a reflection of His honest and just character.  Proverbs 11:1 says, "Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight."  He commanded His people, "Be holy, for I am holy."  They were not to be like people who naturally showed partiality, favouritism, or nepotism, but to be honest, trustworthy, just, and conduct their business matters with integrity.  When discovered some people shrug at their own dishonest business practices and say, "That's just business."  If the God of Israel is also your God, the call to just weights and measures remains true regardless of what is socially acceptable.  In a "dog eat dog" world, we are to walk in light of the new nature God has given us through faith in Jesus and live His way.

From an early age people have the knack of always seeking preferential treatment for ourselves.  We eye the biggest slice of dessert, naturally seek the best deal, the most profitable investments, the biggest return for our money.  Both in Monopoly and real life we don't mind the concept of "Bank error in your favour."  Man shows partiality to himself over all, but those who are God's are to consider others more important than themselves.  That is the essence of biblical love displayed by Jesus Christ:  sacrificing self for the good of others.  If our benefit or profit comes at the expense of others through dishonesty, we ought to mourn rather than rejoice and seek to put things right.  The chief tax collector Zacchaeus demonstrated the connection between becoming a disciple of Christ with returning wealth gained dishonestly with interest in Luke 19.

Christians are not perfect, but we ought to strive to live justly in an unjust world.  If we skew the numbers for our own selfish benefit, we have become thieves worthy of just punishment.  To deceitfully enrich ourselves shows a fundamental lack of faith in God to provide for our needs.  Willful dishonesty for gain reveals we are greedy, dissatisfied, and ungrateful with what God has given us.  Our call as believers is not to measure ourselves by the world's distorted view of fairness, but to make decisions in light of God's justice.  Our assurance of forgiveness and salvation hinges upon this immutable characteristic of God as it is written in 1 John 1:9:  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

We expect God to justly keep His Word, and we bring glory to His name when we trust Him, love others, and deal justly in our business.  In just business God delights!