READING: 2 Kings 12-14
In some ways, it is really easy to be dishonest. We can have private sin in our life, and no one know about it. We can cheat on our taxes and seemingly get away with it (at least for a while). We can tell “little white lies,” assuming no one will know the difference. We can tell partial truths to protect our own necks. We can go through the rituals of Christianity without its teachings really affecting the way we live.
Dishonesty. It’s far too easy.
That’s why this simple text caught my attention today: “They did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty” (2 Kings 12:15). Men were repairing the temple at the command of King Joash, and the people were paying for the repairs by bringing their offering to the temple. That offering was then given to the workers to cover the daily costs. Of those who handled the money, though, the scriptures say, “they acted with complete honesty.” In fact, the people so trusted them that they did not require an account from them.
We might question the wisdom of not requiring accountability, but that’s precisely the point of this text. We hold people accountable because they are sinners, not because they are walking in honest righteousness. If all of us were completely honest, making sure that our “yes” means “yes” and our Christian life really reflects Christ, checking up on one another would not be needed.
That is the way I want to live — to be so honest that no one ever sees a need to validate my words or action.
ACTION STEPS:
- Determine if you are being dishonest in any place today. If so, confess and repent.
- Be completely honest today.
PRAYER: “Father, make me a person of undeniable honesty. Point out to me, and then remove, any hypocrisy in my life today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Kings 15-17
