Be Honest

" A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight"    Proverbs 11:1

     When I was a young child a friend of mine taught me how to steal.  Neither of us ever had pocket change to spend as we wished, so he taught me how to sneak candy when the cashier wasn't looking.  It felt really scary, but he kept telling me it wasn't a big deal.  It became pretty routine to meet up with my friends and go get candy.  Pretty routine, until my mother found out.
     When you're a kid you really don't think about the second and third order of effect.  You pretty much live stimulus to response.  Take candy, eat candy, life is good.  Come to fine out, my mother understood this stimulus response process really well.  She introduced two new things into my life that I would forever associate with stealing.  The first was accountability.  She marched me into the convenient store and made me confess.  In front of everyone I had to say "I stole candy from you."  It was a second order of effect that I hated.  I felt so ashamed saying those words and so humiliated for what I had done. The truth of being caught and having to be held accountable would forever be associated with the thought of being dishonest.  The second event that mom administered was an ancient practice called "paddling."  It is a process where a parent would take a thin board and begin to stimulate the gluteus maximus in sufficient manner as to produce a different response from the child.  It worked, thank you Mom.
     Why is honesty so important to God?  It has everything to do with our faith in God as our provider.  Life is like a child with no candy watching all the other kids enjoying themselves.  You begin to reason your way into sin: "the store has plenty of money, they won't miss it, they charge too much for other items, they don't treat their employees right, I'm a good kid and I deserve candy like everyone else. I'll never get caught, I'll only take a little..."  So rather than trusting in God to be your provider you decide to be dishonest and cheat...just a little...on your taxes.  "It's no big deal, everyone else does it."  Then you begin to extend it to taking things from your office..."they do not pay me enough."  Then it is when a cashier hands you too much change, a product does not scan with a grocer, you wrongfully return an item to a merchant...and the list goes on.  Unfortunately, dishonesty has a way of slowly taking you down a path you can not backtrack.  A path of accountability and repercussions.
     When we live stimulus to response, we nurse our cravings and sear our conscience.  If we will add the second order of effect, getting caught and having to be known as being dishonest, it may keep us from the third order of effect of punitive action.  Ultimately it will keep us from having to confess to God that we did not trust Him as our provider, we took a short cut and became dishonest.
     Being honest has it's own rewards.  "The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them. (Proverbs 11:3)"  It is the wisdom of purposely putting your life on a path that can not crumble underneath your feet.  The peace of mind you live with knowing all is well, regardless of any inquiry.  Do we really need a reward from God for being honest?  No.  The return of honesty in your life is its own reward.

Father, help us remember "when the wrong oft seems so strong, you are the ruler yet."  Your ways are beautiful and your paths bring safety.  In Jesus Name, A-Men.