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Render to Caesar the thing that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. ~Mark 12:17
Every quarter I pull out my tax files and cozy up to my adding machine where my fingers do the walking (and adding) for me. Because we are self-employed and I'm the office girl and the treasurer/secretary of our company, it's my job to do this. (It's also one of the ways that I am a helpmate for my husband. By doing the books and taxes for him, he's free to do other things. Oh, and I do not make the financial decisions, he does, I just do the bookwork and weekly finger work.) Doing the books is a fact of my life—and definitely not a favorite part! But I don't get hung up about paying taxes either. They're a fact of life.Politics is not something I tackle here, but I do have a few opinions. One of them is our responsibility to pray for our president—regardless of whether I agree with him or not. The other opinion I feel strongly about is paying taxes. We need to pay them. We need to pay to Caesar what is due him. The government is placed over us for many reasons (no, I don't agree with big government) and they do have a place in the big scheme of things. Anarchy has no appeal to me, so I pay my taxes and pray for our government.
But the government only gets my taxes. My life and my soul belong to God. Money is temporary. My soul is eternal. God has given me so much and I have the privilege of giving back to Him myself. Even with giving Him my life, there is no way I could ever repay what God has done for me. Michael W. Smith's song sums it up for me:
This is my desire, to Honor You
Lord with all my heart I worship You
All I have within me
I give You praise
All that I adore is in You
Lord I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for You alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord have Your way in me
Lord I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for You alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord have Your way in me
This is my desire, to Honor You
Lord with all my heart I worship You
All I have within me
I give You praise
All that I adore is in You
Lord I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for You alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord have Your way in me
Lord I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for You alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord have Your way in me
Lord I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for You alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord have Your way in me
Posts
I think it goes for all things financial. That we honor God in everything we do with our finances. Paying debts, bills etc as well as with taxes.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that song too!!!! :)
Absolutely! Eternal things go ONLY to Him. LOVE that (so far) everyone has approached this verse differently. Taxes to government, myself to God. Thanks for participating! Love ya!
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading everyone's reflections today. Jesus knew that "Caesars" would come and go--but God is eternal. I'm so glad He gave us this lesson.
ReplyDeleteI love the Michael W. Smith lyrics. It puts everything into perspective when we think of it that way, doesn't it? I love reading your thoughts, too. You have such an obvious love for our great God.
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