Exodus 23:8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Now isn’t that the living truth my Friends! That was one of God’s instructions to Moses when He brought the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. And it holds true to this day, because of man’s inherent greedy, evil nature. It’s sound advice for anyone in a position of authority, or who has power to change or do something to cause one person or group to benefit over another. A gift under those circumstances is usually nothing more than a bribe, whether or not it be conceived as such. Because it ‘blindeth the wise.’ It’s just human nature to look more favourably on any group or person who gives us something, especially if it’s something we badly need or want. But there are always repercussions to accepting gifts, since the gift giver, either consciously or subconsciously, expects things to go in his favour. And if they don’t, he’s upset. But if they do, then the ones who gave no gifts, raise a hue and cry, claiming it’s only because the decision makers received gifts. Proverbs 15:27 says, ‘He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house, but he that hateth gifts shall live.’ And that’s a proven fact. Just look at the many people over the years, who’ve been brought to their knees over the inappropriate taking of gifts. But what have we done in our society today eh? We’ve gone and ostensibly legalized the giving of gifts, clothing it in the respectable, unsuspecting name of lobbying. Lobbyists have access to those in power and constantly try to get them to make laws, rules or changes with various promises. But people, a bribe by any other name is still a bribe. Proverbs 17:23 got it so right. ‘A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgement.’ And that’s exactly what lobbyists do, ‘try to pervert the ways of judgement’ to the benefit of those they represent. And as the Bit states, gifts also ‘perverteth the words of the righteous.’ It causes those decent people who accept them to lie and cover up the true nature of their activities. No one openly admits taking a bribe. Instead, we all get up on our high horse, get angry and self-righteous and threaten to litigate etc. when the truth is we’re just covering up our nefarious deeds with a lot of hot air, hoping that our indignant reaction will make others believe we’re telling the truth, and the accusations would then fade away. But that’s not how it works Friends. At some stage of the game, we all have to pay the piper. As the man in the oil ad says, you can pay me now, or pay me later, but you’ll pay sometime, and the later you pay, the greater the price. So people, if you’re in any position to make or enable change, especially significant change, please beware of gifts and their givers. For they at times behave like meagre dogs, after you’ve treated them good, they turn around and bite you. Let’s be acutely aware of those who come bearing gifts, for they may be trying to blind us to some evil deed, or make us pervert our words, words we may have to eat, at a huge price, later on. Much LOVE!…never accept seemingly harmless gifts…unless you’re real sure of their true purpose…
Now isn’t that the living truth my Friends! That was one of God’s instructions to Moses when He brought the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. And it holds true to this day, because of man’s inherent greedy, evil nature. It’s sound advice for anyone in a position of authority, or who has power to change or do something to cause one person or group to benefit over another. A gift under those circumstances is usually nothing more than a bribe, whether or not it be conceived as such. Because it ‘blindeth the wise.’ It’s just human nature to look more favourably on any group or person who gives us something, especially if it’s something we badly need or want. But there are always repercussions to accepting gifts, since the gift giver, either consciously or subconsciously, expects things to go in his favour. And if they don’t, he’s upset. But if they do, then the ones who gave no gifts, raise a hue and cry, claiming it’s only because the decision makers received gifts. Proverbs 15:27 says, ‘He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house, but he that hateth gifts shall live.’ And that’s a proven fact. Just look at the many people over the years, who’ve been brought to their knees over the inappropriate taking of gifts. But what have we done in our society today eh? We’ve gone and ostensibly legalized the giving of gifts, clothing it in the respectable, unsuspecting name of lobbying. Lobbyists have access to those in power and constantly try to get them to make laws, rules or changes with various promises. But people, a bribe by any other name is still a bribe. Proverbs 17:23 got it so right. ‘A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgement.’ And that’s exactly what lobbyists do, ‘try to pervert the ways of judgement’ to the benefit of those they represent. And as the Bit states, gifts also ‘perverteth the words of the righteous.’ It causes those decent people who accept them to lie and cover up the true nature of their activities. No one openly admits taking a bribe. Instead, we all get up on our high horse, get angry and self-righteous and threaten to litigate etc. when the truth is we’re just covering up our nefarious deeds with a lot of hot air, hoping that our indignant reaction will make others believe we’re telling the truth, and the accusations would then fade away. But that’s not how it works Friends. At some stage of the game, we all have to pay the piper. As the man in the oil ad says, you can pay me now, or pay me later, but you’ll pay sometime, and the later you pay, the greater the price. So people, if you’re in any position to make or enable change, especially significant change, please beware of gifts and their givers. For they at times behave like meagre dogs, after you’ve treated them good, they turn around and bite you. Let’s be acutely aware of those who come bearing gifts, for they may be trying to blind us to some evil deed, or make us pervert our words, words we may have to eat, at a huge price, later on. Much LOVE!…never accept seemingly harmless gifts…unless you’re real sure of their true purpose…
SCRIP-BITS 