A Perfect Weight

“Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Deuteronomy 25:13-15

It was not uncommon for people in Bible days to have two different sets of scales or measures: one that they used to buy things, and one that they used to sell things. They would use the scale that weighed lighter than the standard weight when they were buying things and the scale that weighed heavier than standard when they were selling. The lighter weight allowed them to pay less than the price they agreed to, and the heavier weight allowed them to charge more. God commanded His people not to do this. He wanted them to be fair with each other. This command was linked to an important promise. God said that He would give them length of days in the Promised Land if they would use one standard scale that allowed them to be fair with each other. Our exchange of currencies and systems of weighing products are much more standardized now, but the temptation to cut corners and take advantage of others still presents itself to us. Do you treat others fairly? For example, if you were selling a vehicle that had a mechanical problem, would you disclose that to the buyer? God wants us to treat each other as we would want to be treated. Let’s be sure that we always use a “perfect weight.”