Measures of the heart

You shall not have in your bag differing weights,
a heavy and a light.
You shall not have in your house differing measures,
a large and a small.
You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure,
that your days may be lengthened
in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously,
are an abomination to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 25:13-16 NKJV

We live in a world of a constantly changing economy.
Just travel to another country and exchange currency.
Because depending on the day...
the amount your dollar can buy, will vary.
So it is not unusual to us, for the weight and measure... the value of something to change quickly.

But not in God's Kingdom.
For He is a just judge.
His weights and measures never change.
He establishes value and then leaves it.
To Him, black is black.... and white is white.
And He measures all things the same.

Which is why He gives this law.
For long ago, people didn't carry money...
they traded and bartered.
So they would weigh and measure to find value.
And if they were traveling, they would carry a bag of weights.
And this law of God was to keep the peace, to make men honest, to maintain value.

And God asks us as well, not to use varying weights... differing measures.

He asks us not to judge others,
not to measure against the standards of this world...
which are so very different from His own.

But our hearts are so good at this task.
In a matter seconds...
before we know it, we have sized someone up from across the room.
All according to our standard, our weight, our measure.
And how quickly we can decide whether they fit our mold of acceptable... or not.

It's not just the first impression we measure.
For relationships can change in the balance of time.
And the longer we know someone, the more we expect from them...
the heavier weight we pull from our bag to weigh them;
the longer measure we hold against their actions.

Measure up, or not.
It does not fit the design of God's plan for us.
For Jesus taught...
Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with what judgment you judge,
you will be judged;
and with the measure you use,
it will be measured back to you.
And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye,
but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’;
and look, a plank is in your own eye?
Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye,
and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:1-7 NKJV

Always a humbling task to read these verses.
They pierce the heart.
Clearly this is one law from the Old Testament,
that did not change under the salvation and grace of Jesus!

Word of God... train me, today...
to put down my weights, to leave all my measures,
to trust You above all as just and righteous Judge.

Lord God,
thank You for reminding me of Your ways.
Help me to set down my standards that measure.
They are incomplete, lacking and leaning
For I do not have a balanced perspective
from which to measure or judge anyone.

Help me to lift everyone else
to a higher standard...
of praise and encouragement, only.
And teach my heart
to let go of it's weights and measures
for they are always uneven in Your sight.