Mark 12:17- And Jesus answering said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's…
As I sit at my computer this fine Saturday afternoon I pour over the stack of papers sitting in front of me, hoping to some how see a miracle jump out of my Taxes. For the first time in my life I owe Taxes, not a problem if I was still making the same amount of money I was at the end of 2008. The problem… I am not. My income was cut by half since December and the costs of life have gone up. Not only do I owe Taxes. I owe a lot of taxes, close to a month’s paycheck.
The first thought after I saw that infamous RED word around a massive 4 digit monetary value saying OWE not REFUND, was what gives. Why me? Why now? Why not last year? Why not a 2 or 3 digit amount owed? And then I started to get pissed. Real pissed, I swore at my computer, I swore at my stupidity, I swore at our government and I swore at the situation.
So I went to the Lord, and I went to the Word. And the verse that came to mind was of course Mark 12:17. It says we are to give to our leaders the money owed to our leaders. I know at this point some people would start going into a rant over why should we give our taxes to a government that is using our money on things we don’t agree with, stem cell research, gay marriage rights, abortion, evolution classes in school etc. But that is not the fight that Jesus calls us to in this verse. This verse I believe isn’t even about paying taxes. This verse is about giving to God the things that are Gods. This verse is not an economical verse; this verse is a kick in the spiritual pants to give to God what is His, namely. PRAISE, HONOR AND GLORY.
How many people this time of year think about this verse and say “I guess I will give the government what they deserve” without even thinking about the meat of this verse. So you owe $2,300, praise the Lord. So the government is using your money to fund abortions, cry for those unborn children, weep for the sin of man, and praise the Lord. So the economy is in the pits and you lost your job, praise Lord. Praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord.
Prayer- May the words of mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you Oh Lord. May I not boast in the ability of man to fix numbers. God grant me the eyes to see through the trials, the pits, the fog, the hardship, the momentary evil that will so easily strangle my faith. Lord help me. Help me to follow your precepts, to, yes, pay my taxes but pay knowing I am obeying. Help me to give cheerfully to my Church, help me to give you what is yours, cheerfully not out of duty but because I desire to praise you, I desire to see you lifted high, I desire to bring you glory.
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