Render Unto Caesar - It's Tax Day!!!
With yesterday being Tax Day in the US we thought it would be appropriate to dig deeper into the tax trap presented to Jesus. I just did my taxes yesterday. I always wait because I always owe money. After putting in a solid 10 hours just trying to complete the forms and forage through my financial maze, it got me to thinking about how much money really does rule our lives! Often the first thing that comes to mind when you're do your taxes is "I earned this, why isn't it mine?" Then you think about what God wants. Let's say you die with a boat load of money, and you show up at the pearly gates with a suitcase full of money. You go, "here go, this is all yours!"
The “suitcase at the gate” mentality is really an attempt to keep control all the way to the end and then make one final transaction.
But God is not after the money. He is after the heart.
The real offering is made now:
- When you provide for your family faithfully
- When you help someone in need
- When you support the work of the gospel
- When you refuse to make money your security or identity
- When you hold what you have with an open hand instead of a clenched fist
Jesus' warning is not “Don't have money.” It is:
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Matthew
If a man dies with a suitcase full of money, the tragedy is not that God missed out on the cash. The tragedy is that the man may have spent his whole life investing in something he could not keep, instead of using it to produce fruit that would last.
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