“…I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages…”

We are a week into the new US Tax Law and already every word in the law is being scrutinized for meaning and ability to find where there is a “loophole” to be exploited. I looked for the origin of the word loophole. Originally the word to be used was “arrowslit”, which was a narrow slit in the side of a building that arrows could be shot forward, but too narrow for arrows to come in without great precision and mostly luck.  How arrowslit turned into loophole, seems to be anyone’s best guess, but it means the same; a narrow and potentially unforeseen gap into which something can be exploited, such as an ambiguous or ill-defined law or regulation.  In this case, our new and untested tax law.  We can expect that that the tax lawyers and tax accountants will have a big 2018 and be recognized as a most sought after class of employees.  There will be nothing wrong with looking for the loopholes in the tax law, but remember that if one pushes into a loophole too much, others involved may misinterpret this as manipulation and greed.

How are we to be purposed worKING leaders and employees and manage within our values and principles, while still being smart with our business skills?  It’s not always easy, but we are given many guidelines and “guardrails” in God’s Word that can lead us to right places.  One lesson that I know for sure is that are no loopholes in God’s Kingdom and if that is the case, if we are leading our lives and our work, looking for loopholes to be exploited, we might want to step back and be sure that we have our motivations in order.  What we seek and what we do matters, so let’s be sure we are not working in ways that are not pleasing to Him or send the wrong signals to those around us.

Reference: Malachi 3:5 (New Living Translation)