Paying Taxes

It is almost that time of year.  Tax time, that is.    It seems only yesterday that I was pay my property taxes for 2015, and here I am getting things together to file my federal and state income taxes.    Though I try to approach all things with hope and anticipation, it is no more fun for the husband of a professional tax preparer to get his tax information together than anyone else.

In an effort to change my poor attitude about paying and filing taxes, I decided to look at what I could see in the Bible about such things.    In Luke 20, I found this story about Jesus and taxes:

²⁰ Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. ²¹ So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²² Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”  ²³ He saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”  “Caesar’s,” they replied.  ²⁵ He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

  

This passage of scripture confronted me with a bigger and more important issue and it is this:   I need to come face to face not so much with giving honor to Caesar and paying taxes, but I need to come face to face with that struggle that goes inside me daily on giving honor and glory to God.      While the image of the latest American Caesar might be on our money, there is an image also imprinted on you and I.  That image on us is the image of God.    How am I doing daily giving glory, honor, and praise to God?   Have a good week.--  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   Holy God, grant that I might this day give myself more fully and completely to you;  through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.