My dear readers,

Profit and Loss is of the LORD

Proverbs 16:11: “A just weight and balance are the LORD'S: all the weights of the bag are his work.”

The literal translation is: “A weight and balance of judgment is of the LORD, His work is all the stones of the bag.” Businesses are important in every society. This holds true for the people of Israel. The LORD knew that His people would trade with one another to live and to grow the society and that there would be bad businessmen.

Not all businessmen are created equal. Some are brilliant and will do extremely well. They are not only hard working but also quite organised and savvy when it comes to generating wealth. There are others who might not be as hard working and do not do well. Some are hard working but might not have a business mind necessary to succeed. They work hard but in vain. With such a diversity of abilities there will certainly be some who are none of the above but are simply lazy and dishonest. They will maximise profit at the expense of others. They are heartless.

These would plan to cheat their fellow Israelites as if there is no God. They envy those who are more successful. They want success by cheating. They would take advantage of the helpless and the weak, and plot and connive with the powerful and influential in order to get away with cheating and even murder! In such a society, the Lord warns that, as His people, they need to be honest in their business dealings!

Thus, the LORD tells His people to be honest, for a “just weight and balance are the LORD’s.” Children of God are duty bound to be honest in all their business dealings. Weights and balances were what they used in Old Testament times to do business in Israel. They would weigh produce, such as wheat, on scales with weights to determine how much their customers were buying on the agreed price. These weights and balances could be tampered with in favour of the sellers. Weights are also used today in supermarkets and wet markets. They are digital scales and perhaps can also be tampered with in favour of the sellers. Israel was to bear a holy testimony for the LORD Jesus Christ. They were to be honest in their business dealings with all men, Israelites and Gentiles alike.

One of the main reasons for cheating is greed. Greed comes when men lean upon wealth for peace of mind, safety and security. They believe that the more money they have, the more successful they are, and in the eyes of the world as well. They feel secure knowing that they have more than enough money to maintain their present lifestyle till they die. Money also brings power. They feel powerful because with money they control lives. They can buy people and even friends. This is the deception of the devil that many have fallen prey to, including professing believers. Therefore, the LORD says to all true believers that honest dealing in business is an important mark that shows they belong to Him. Conversely, dishonest dealings point to thieves and liars. The devil is the father of lies. The God of the Bible is the God who cannot lie!

Honesty in business dealing means honest dealing with all men in all things. A cheat in business is basically a cheat in life. His conscience is numbed. The more he cheats and gets away with it, the more he will do it. This will become his way of life. Cheating becomes normal after a while. He begins to think that others will also cheat like him. Everyone cheats so why should I be disadvantaged! I’d better cheat too! Such reasoning stems from a depraved mind. This is not limited to his business dealings but all dealings! His family life, church life, in fact all relationships, are based upon some form of cheating for personal gain. But for the one who is truly born again in Christ, this sinful behaviour and life have been transformed because he has been made a new creature in Christ. The transformation began from his heart. The attributes of God, including honesty and truthfulness, are his new found attributes, displacing and replacing all the old sinful ones such as cheating!

Does this mean that all born again businessmen will succeed in business? Definitely not! That would be disastrous to the cause of Christ, for all will become believers just to become wealthy. Therefore, the LORD assures all His trustworthy children that “all the weights of the bag are his work.” Whether rich or poor in material things it matters not to the child of God. He has already learned from Christ that godliness with contentment is great gain. He has stopped measuring his new life in Christ by the abundance of what he possesses. That kind of carnal measurement belongs to the old man.

As a new man in Christ, he sees the spiritual as pure gold and the material world as fool’s gold. He serves and gives his best to please only his Christ. He no longer desires to please man, self or mammon! If he is poor, he knows he is rich in eternity, for the LORD is with him and will never leave him. If he is rich, it matters not, for his eyes are on Christ alone and not on anything that is of this earth. He is convicted in his heart that he will not defile himself by any of the things of this world. Holiness means more to him than all the gold in the world. If he gets cheated, he thanks his God that he is not the cheat but the one cheated! He will be honest even if it means he will suffer financial loss. He now knows the LORD and has been blessed with the attributes of his LORD to be honest at all costs in all things especially in his business dealings.