Romans 13:5-7: "Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wealth but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed."
If you are anything like me then you are grinding your teeth just like me after reading that passage. It is difficult to be reminded by God Himself that we should pay our taxes with deference to the governing authorities that are over us. Add to this Jesus' statement to 'give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
But we should remember that in all of this, the point is that God is in control and every earthly authority acts as a shadow of our great God. When we show reverence to the despot we show faith and praise of the highest sort to the Almighty God. With this perspective, we can pay our tax with joyous thanksgiving with the recognition that we are, in effect, giving our tax out of love for Christ. Let us then do this painful act with faith and praise!
No comments:
Post a Comment