To Fix a Broken Scale

One day I got to thinking

And my thoughts made me livid,

Yes, I know I said I was thinking

But what I thought seemed so vivid.

In my thoughts, I saw a scale

And on that scale, there were some items,

The items were all to one side

Every single one of them.

As could be expected

The scale was down to that side,

These things were heavy without doubt

So I was not surprised.

My scale was terribly lopsided

But at first, I did not mind

Until I got to thinking…

This was thinking of the spiritual kind.

But then suddenly a single item

Was placed on the opposite side

And would you believe me?

Those things went on an upward ride.

I thought, how could a single item

Outweigh a world of others?

And it seemed so insignificant

To me, that was the bother.

On one side there was wealth

Also fame and popularity,

Add to that, great possessions

And loads and loads of money.

Perhaps the scale wasn’t working

Or I was being deluded,

What a strange phenomenon

Into my thoughts had intruded!

I looked again and there it was

Just as I had seen before,

It had to be illusory,

It certainly was nothing more.

  

All these tangible things I saw

Were to one end of the scale

But when matched to the single one

All these items had failed.

I wondered and I wondered

How could this really be?

What I saw didn’t make any sense

Must be something I didn’t see.

Then in my thoughts, I saw a heart

Well, more like a human soul,

A longing there for something more

After having achieved its goal.

The scale that was really broken

Was inside my very own soul,

I possessed much with more to spare

Yet I was not feeling whole.

I was weighted heavily down

With all the world’s trinkets,

The gold, the wealth and fame

But my broken soul they couldn’t fix.

Further down I could not go,

I had now reached rock bottom,

I looked up the scale to the other end

And that’s when I felt so rotten.

I had fed my soul on worldly husks

And such is never soul food,

I was still starved as starved could be

I had to make a move.

There was one item that I needed

That would far outweigh all these,

It was the wonderful love of God

That would rid me of my disease.

My scale had long stopped working

My priorities were all mixed up

And though I had the world’s goods

Mine was a bitter cup.

I remembered King Solomon’s words

All is vanity and vexation of spirit

Hence, my scale so gravely top heavy

Had issued me with an edit.

Get right! Get right! It said to me

Fix your broken scale,

The values thereon are way off mark

You are doomed to fail.

With the correct item at the other end

All those things were jettisoned,

Love controls my scale and now I know

I have a balanced position.

The balance of payment in this life

Cannot be treated to with wealth,

Only the wonderful love of Jesus

Can turn around our spiritual health

One’s scale is seriously broken

Until God’s love is taken on board,

One only gains the right perspective

By studying the Holy Word.

I am thankful for God’s intervention

My scale is working better,

There’s room for improvement though

But that’s another matter.

Stewart Russell © June 2018