Tax Day-Render to Ceasar...

I can't help but reflect on Jesus response to the Pharisees who were trying to trap Him. Matthew 22:20-22 says, “And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” The fact that they marveled always strikes me. It reminds me that at a certain level we too should be abandoning ourselves to God first and foremost. Money should not be something we hang onto and grasp for but rather it is a tool to advance God's kingdom. We too should marvel at the one who truly supplies all we need. When tax day comes and we owe do we give it up grudgingly? Or do we recognize that God has ordained the current system we have. The money that is rendered to the government is certainly part of God's ordained economy. I am not saying don't vote or try to effect a change. But there is a sense in which it demands that we trust God. We must look beyond the government and realize that it is truly God that supplies our needs. Use tax day and any money that you might owe as an opportunity to refocus your life on the one who truly supplies your needs. To realize that our greatest treasure is truly found in our Lord Jesus.

Responding to health care legislation

No matter what position you take on this issue one thing is certain. It will cost us more money not less. There is no possible way to add a layer of government oversight to this big of a sector of our economy and not have the total cost be higher at the end of the day. This can only drive us ultimately to a more dire financial position as a country. What does this have to do with living a God focused life? In Jeremiah 25:9 God calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant. He served as God's hand of judgement. If you know the story you remember that Nebuchadnezzar took the kingdom of Judah into captivity. This was not a positive thing. Why did God bring all of this destruction on His people? Jeremiah 23:13-19 give us a pretty good clue if we will only listen. In the beginning of this passage God says that the prophets of Baal in Samaria did an unsavory thing by leading the people astray. This is easy to identify. Any cult or thing that man puts his faith in other than God is an unsavory thing in the mind of God. This would include government. Our trust should be in God not the government. The second part of this passage is the toughest and most important. The prophets in Jerusalem are condemned by God not for doing an unsavory thing but for doing a horrible thing. They claimed to speak for God and yet they did not. They told the people the things that they wanted to hear, not the things God was telling the true prophets like Jeremiah. If healthcare legislation drives us to financial ruin and plunges us into a depression or worse it would be the hand of God. We must realize that the reason God brought calamity on Judah was to turn her heart back to Him. For far too long now in America many of the churches have been preaching to people what they want to hear. That message will wither under the wrath of almighty God. He judges harshly those who claim to speak for Him but say what they perceive people want to hear. He judges harshly those who want to hear from people like this. It should be our goal to turn our hearts toward God not legislation for our help. We need to guide our families to look to God, and yes we need to encourage our pastors and elders to point us toward God. We need to say with the Psalmist, “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”(Psalm 121) Our only and best hope is to focus on our marvelous Lord Jesus in every situation.

Economic desperation...

How can a Christian respond to the economic desperation that plagues so many of us? (I speak from the position of a laid off person who is looking for work.) I use the term can respond rather than how we should respond intentionally. We all at a base level have heard how we should respond but that does not seem to always help when rubber of real life meets the road of no job. I could quote verses like Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” or Jesus words in  Matthew 6:31-32 “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” Anyone who has been a Christian for any amount of time is aware of these passages. While they provide comfort the bigger issue that we often face at times of economic turmoil is an issue that is deeper in our hearts. The core of the problem lies in where we are looking for our security. Are the securities of this world drawing my attention away from my God? Am I stressed by the things that promise to supply my needs but are temporal? God has made the world, the universe and everything in it. He knows my going out and my coming in (Psalm 121:8). If we really are His children and we live in that reality then we should depend on Him like a child does its father. The earlier verses become a potent and powerful comfort in the context of realizing that the battle of desperation is only won in the context of finding our security in God. A God focused life will seek Jesus in the middle of the desperation calling on Him to help us to find our security in Him. It is really an all out desperate grab for the hem of His garment. We need Him to be not just the end of our faith but truly the author of our faith as well. Ask Him to grant you a desire for security in Him that will eclipse the desire for the securities that this world offers. Continue to pursue the opportunities and jobs that God places before you but at the end of the day rest in Him knowing that all the outcomes are in His hands. For further reading on this topic get the free download or buy John Piper's A Hunger for God. It is an excellent resource in any situation that assaults our dependence on God.