Day 18

"'Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?'”
He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 'Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?'
'Caesar’s,' they replied.
He said to them, 'Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.'"

Luke 20:22-25

Wes and I are pretty good about tithing. We also pay our taxes. So why do I write about this particular passage today? Because giving to "Caesar" what belongs to him and giving to God what belongs to him extend much farther than just giving back a portion of what we have earned. Being a part of American society means that we should be giving our time and energy to supporting jobs, people, education, and life in America. This, of course, should not be done to the exclusion of other countries, and Jesus also calls us to support the poor throughout the world. However, we are Americans, and we owe a debt of gratitude to the country and the people who allow us the rich lives that we lead.

At the same time, and on a much bigger scale, tithing does not come anywhere near encompassing the return of all that belongs to God. Everything we have, from our money to our lives, is a gift from God. Even that which we return to "Caesar" was never "Caesar's" or ours to give. God grants us all things, so we will never be able to pay him back for all that he has done. We are not called to try to repay the great debt we owe God. We are called to remember the great things he has done, and give all things, from our time to our lives, back to God.

Today, I thought about how I live my life. Yes, I devote at least an hour per week to worshipping God, I tithe, etc. But have I really been surrendering all that is God's to him? I frequently spend more money on eating out and going to movies in a month than I do supporting ministry and doing God's work in the world. I spend most of my week working, watching TV, reading, and hanging out with Wes. Do I really dedicate that time to God? Part of being a Christian is giving of myself, and I definitely need some work in this area. Praying more frequently is a good start. But I am also committing myself to spending at least one hour of time outside of church each week devoted specifically to God.