“Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Luke 20:24-25 NIV)
We have five seasons where we live: spring, summer, autumn, winter, and tax season. The U.S. Treasury department prints paper currency and mints coins for circulation,and, it expects a chunk of it back every year. From January to mid-April, my husband and I are scrambling to find receipts and get through the mountains of paperwork that are required to file our taxes. We use an accountant to make sure we haven’t missed anything since the tax laws change every year.
The religious leaders of the day asked Jesus for tax advice. Should they pay taxes to Caesar who represented the Roman Empire? Jesus pointed out that the money was created in Caesar’s image and thus to “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
What is God’s? What does He expect us to give back to Him?
God created human beings in His own image. Thus, we are expected to give of ourselves to God. Most of us have a tough time with the concept of giving over our individuality to God. Instead, we make do by giving a portion of our money, time, and talents to churches--which we imagine are storehouses and distribution centers for God. This allows us to retain the illusion of control, our egos still intact. Our identity and self-will are still in charge. We continue believing we are masters of our own lives.
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