Talking Scales
When I was growing up, I loved school. I loved learning new stuff and having access to a seemingly limitless number of books. I even loved taking tests. But, being a chunky child, I hated the annual weigh-ins. I particularly remember my sixth-grade experience. We were herded, en masse, to the gym. As we waited in line it was horrifyingly apparent to me that the woman manning the scales and the woman recording the weight were not in tune to the sensitivity of this procedure. As each child was weighed, a number was announced, one which seemed to reverberate off the gym walls. It was an unbearable experience.
So you can understand my bafflement over the current trend towards talking scales. For the visually impaired, they are a blessing. But for people like me, who never seemed to outgrow our craving for food and who live with the fantasy that our clothes hide this inclination, why would we want to announce to the world another day of defeat?
It is easy to see my daily dieting success or failure by merely clambering on a scale. By doing that first thing every morning I am slowly getting a handle on what works and what doesn’t. I was thinking recently that the importance of how much I weigh pales in comparison to that of the condition of my spiritual life. Sure, I can read my Bible, memorize Scripture, pray and so on, and a lack in any of these areas should raise alarms, but how do I weigh the condition of my heart? How do I know if I am holier today than yesterday? Those of us who struggle with weight issues know how easy it is to look in the mirror and say, “I don’t look that bad.” Unfortunately, how we see ourselves is never as accurate as a scale. Why isn’t there a soul scale?
Then yesterday, while chatting with a couple of my daughters during our daily lake swim, one quite matter-of-factly piped up, “Mom, you’re not as sinless as you think.” Eureka! A talking scale.While I still have a strong preference for the silent versions, God has chosen to give me at least six fully-functioning, talking scales. And as painful as it is to hear their announcements, if I will only listen, God can use them to help me recognize my padding of sin and strive for spiritual muscle.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus…” Hebrews 12:1
