Taxes – Romans 13:6-7

How many times have you thought that you would do a better job with Tax payers money than the government of that time? I think only the other day I was complaining at what our government was doing! As much however as we disagree with what our government(s) may be doing for our country, we still have to respect them and to continue to pay our taxes. Government officials may or may not know it, but they are in a highly responsible position where they should be carrying out Gods will for the land. Therefore regardless of what we think, we need to continue to support them. After all, should they make mistakes, or decisions displeasing to Him, it will be Him they answer to and not us!

It is also our duty therefore, as we read on into verse 7, that we treat out government with respect. They have been given a position of high responsibility, and therefore we should not become caught in the web of negative words against them. The media today picks up very much upon the faults of government parties, as well as the individual faults of members in the name of entertainment and news. People gloat over this information, and use it to fuel their dislike of that person or party. We must not get involved in that world. Avoid reading papers that do this, or watching programs of a similar nature. We are to be obedient to the Lord: (Acts 23:5, Exodus 22:28).

Mark 12:17  – Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

We do therefore have a responsibility to fund our government.  It helps support all the services that are provided, including the security and safety the police and fire services bring.  We should render unto our government the taxes they require without complaint.  If we get the “cash in hand” jobs, as tempting as it may be to keep, we should seek to do the right thing and ensure all taxes have been paid on all amounts of money in.

Why do this?  We do this as a sign of respect for those in Government that God has placed there, and also as an act of obedience to the Lord who has commanded we do this.

Sources – John 6:60-71

Interesting that the Our Daily Bread reading for today, concentrates on a modern day world of sheer information overload.  We are surrounded by all sorts of technology, and marketing material that bombards us daily with images, and information on how we should live our lives, how we should look, how we should feel about ourselves, what we should want in life.  The internet alone contains millions, if not billions of pages full of information on any subject you so wish to search on.  Unfortunately, some of the information isn’t always accurate, and more often than not contains a very worldly perspective.

It is a very valid point, and a reminder of how important it is for us as Christians to ensure that we live our lives according to Gods Holy Word.  The Bible should always be our final say in any decision we make.  With the millions of “self help” speakers out there pioneering break through ways to improve your self worth, and become successful, it is tempting to loose sight of the single source of truth and wisdom that has not gone out of fashion for thousands of years;  God’s Word the Bible.

Any teaching we hear, we should always ensure that not only is it firmly rooted in scripture, but also that we have investigated the subject further ourselves, and studied the scripture, not only to clarify the learning, but to gain an even deeper understanding of the exciting truths contained there in.

With all the modern day sources of information, we need to make sure that the Bible remains number 1.