Exactly What and Who is Fair?
I have been living in my home for about 7 months now and I had yet to have my bed assembled because the carpet in my bedroom was disgusting and had to be ripped out and replaced. Finally I was able to assemble my bed and was excited to sleep in a full bed and not on a mattress topper for the first time in months. This excited me exceedingly. After finishing up in the bathroom, ready to jump in for the first time; I walk in my room and I find this fella in it. For crying out loud, how on earth does he get to be the first one in my bed? It’s just not fair! 😕
On a more serious note, I recently experienced something with my traditional job where I felt that it was not fair. I realize I got so overly concerned about the issue, that I forgot who is truly in control. Anytime we are dealing with people inside of difficult situations at work, with family or friends we must examine our own heart to insure whatever we intended to communicate is out of love, to magnify and represent our King YESHUA, and to advance His Kingdom. So I held my tongue and prayed.
Afterward, it all caused me to ponder the word fair and Ezekiel 33-17 came to mind. 17: Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not fair: but as for them, their way is not fair. 18: When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 19: But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20: Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not fair. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
These verses occurred where after YAHWEH presented various scenarios that held the people of Israel accountable for teaching His ways to others as well as holding each other accountable when found transgressing His laws. When I first read this I thought first, YAHWEH knows our every thought, heart, and conversations, and this must have been the general consensus of what Israel thought at that time; which is that He is not fair. After all He has done, brought them out of bondage, fought their wars, and yet because He has consequences, which by the way they were warned about, for not walking in covenant with Him, and keeping His laws; He is not being fair.? However, what do we as humans really know about being fair? By what standards and what authority do we consider a matter fair, or ourselves to be fair?
What the world has taught us about being fair has nothing to do with our eternal salvation or our Creator. To say YAHWEH is not fair is to liken Him to this world. In fact, He is the only being in existence who is fair. So when I become angry or disillusioned believing that how I feel about my job, what they do or say, or if they are being fair; I need to realize that this is of no consequence to me. That company belongs to them, it belongs to the world and I get paid to do the job I agreed to with a character that reflects my Father YAHWEH and nothing more. So you see it really doesn’t matter if they are fair; all that matters is that my Father YAHWEH is fair. If He were not fair, patient and merciful; I could have died in my transgressions long ago.
The conclusion to this short devotional is that, we should not let the cares of this world, i.e. our jobs or difficult relationships with others get us down causing us to complain about what in the world is fair or not fair. Luke 21:34-35 Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.
The fact is nothing in this world is fair. Only YAHWEH. He will fight our battles, protect our reputations and make everything just or “fair”. Look to nothing else and no one else for this.
Shalom!
Just a short one this time around as I have been packing and getting ready to fly up to meet my newborn beautiful niece, and then spend the Moedim Sukkot, with some more beautiful nieces and nephews. HalleluYAH!
Just a few supporting scriptures:
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
-Romans 12:1-2
And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!
- Luke 12:22-34
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5: Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6: And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
-Ephesians 2:4-6
A landowner goes out early in the morning and hires men, agreeing to pay them the daily rate - a silver coin for a day’s work. He hires them at various times throughout the day - 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 5pm and promises all of the workers a fair wage. When the end of the day came, the landowner said to his manager to pay the workers, starting with those who had been hired last. Those who began working at 5pm were given the daily rate - one silver coin. When it came to those who had been hired first (early in the morning) they thought that they were going to receive more. When they too were given the standard daily wage they began to grumble. They were angry because they had done a lot more work than those who had started later in the day. The landowner did not listen to their complaints and reminded them that they had agreed to the daily rate of pay when they were hired. He said, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” The landowner then says, “The last will be first and the first will be last.”
-Matthew 20:1-16