Today's Devotional

April 20, 2005

Subject:  Meeting Tax Deadlines

Luke 20:25 - "And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's."

The Federal Income Tax deadline has come and gone and I have a few friends who let me know that they are still stewing over their tax situations.  This has become such a big deal in the U.S. because of our complicated tax codes and the structure of our system.  However it really gets simplified when we rely on our Christian imperatives to dictate our attitudes about filing our taxes or paying what we owe.  The bottom line is not simply the verse above which clearly says "pay it," but instead it's actually the fact of Psalms 24:1 which says, "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."  

Our problem is that we are confused about who owns our money, house, car, job, family and everything else.  It has never been ours to begin with.  People get proud of owning their own home and that's okay, but realize that it's on loan to you, not from the bank or the mortgage company, but from God who actually owns it.  

When we finally occupy our eternal residence, then we'll have ownership and the beauty of it will be no taxes, principal or interest due.  They've all been paid.  Until then however, we have tax deadlines to meet.

Carlen