Before We Reach the Scales
By the time I had gathered the stories and parables into The Book of Ron, I thought I understood what they were teaching me. Each story had offered a piece of wisdom: a lesson about how we speak, how we treat one another, the promises we make, and the choices we carry through life.
Then I began to see that the lessons were leading me toward one final question.
Could I look honestly at my own life? It is easy to recognize pride in someone else. It is easy to see when another person bends the truth, acts cruelly, or stirs up trouble. It is harder to recognize those same things in ourselves. We give our actions gentler names. We call pride confidence, anger justice, and an excuse a reason. We remember what we meant to do and forget what our choices did to someone else.
Satan wants to deceive us by placing scales over our eyes. Sometimes we see our own failures, but over a lifetime we can learn to hide from them. We build strongholds out of justifications, fibs, and excuses. Each one can add another scale until we have trouble seeing clearly where we have been dishonest with ourselves.
To look honestly, we have to be willing—figuratively—to rip open our chest, set that little id out on the table, and examine it. In each situation, we must ask ourselves: Did I act with pure integrity, or was I driven by selfish motives? The answer may hurt. But until we are willing to look, the scales remain.
That is why we need a measure beyond our own excuses: honest scales that weigh not only what we say about ourselves, but the motives and character beneath our words and actions.
The stories in The Book of Ron are meant to help us prepare for that examination. They cannot make our choices for us. We must decide what we will carry: truth or deception, humility or pride, compassion or cruelty, peace or division.
The final lesson of these stories is not to point the scales at other people. It is to have the courage to stand before them ourselves—to ask what has filled our vessel, and whether the life we have lived reflects the wisdom we have been given.
Every one of us—every soul among the millions of people who inhabit this planet—will stand before the scales of judgment. We cannot hide from that moment or deceive ourselves about its meaning. When we leave those scales, the Lord may say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Or we may hear, “I never knew you,” and face eternity outside of heaven.
When that day comes, it will be too late to begin this work. We must examine our hearts and choose what our vessels will carry while there is still time. Do not deceive yourself. May the scales fall from our eyes, so Satan’s deception can no longer hide what is inevitably ahead of us.
That is the lesson: we will stand before those scales.
Spiritual Foundation
Philippians 2:12–13 — Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Paul says to work out our salvation “with fear and trembling,” then adds that God is at work in us. The passage joins our responsibility with God’s work within us.
Proverbs 16:2 — “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.”
This speaks directly to our ability to justify ourselves while God sees what is underneath.
Proverbs 11:1 — The Lord detests dishonest scales and favors accurate weights.
That gives the story its image of an honest measure.
Matthew 7:21–23 — “Lord, Lord” is not enough.
Jesus warns that people may point to their words or service, yet hear, “I never knew you.” The passage challenges people who rely on their claims of service while ignoring the truth of their lives.
Proverbs 6:16–19 and Galatians 5:22–23 — The fruit of a life.
Proverbs names the things the Lord detests. Galatians describes the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Together, these passages help us consider what our lives produce.
2 Corinthians 5:10 and Romans 8:1 — Judgment and grace.
We will all appear before Christ’s judgment seat. Romans also says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Together, these passages call us to truthful self-examination while trusting in God’s grace.