Taxes?

Good Morning,

Darn cold has got me down. Sorry that I've been absent a couple days. Feel horrible, tell the truth. Well, this too shall pass!

Romans 13:1-7 (NIV)
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

The verses that crossed my desk today were verses 6 and 7, "This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor," and are appropriate for April 15th, what we call "Tax Day" here in the United States of America. It should be called "Tax DUE Day" I suppose as it's the day in which we must be obedient to what we read in Scripture and pay what is due to our government; pay what we owe.

I thought, though, that we ought to read these verses in context and hopefully better understand WHY we ought to pay our taxes and WHY we ought to do so without all the complaining and belly aching that is going on all over the country. We OUGHT TO DO SO because God says so!!! It's right here in my Bible! I would guess it's in your Bible as well, along with everyone else's.

(Let's not get into political debate about too much, too little, wrongly spent, etc., etc., ad infinitum.)

I love my country and I love all that I have because God has blessed me by having me be born here in the United States, rather than some third world country in another part of the world. I look around me and see so many things that make where I live a marvelous place. Even right outside my home I have a paved road that leads to other paved roads which allow me to get from one place to another in relative safety. Oh, yes, there are the street lights at night that let me see where I'm going. Traffic signals which keep traffic flowing at least somewhat efficiently. There are sidewalks along those streets that let people walk if they choose or must so they don't have to walk on the dirt or in the mud. Now, this is just one small example of the amazing benefits we have in this country. Our roads and streets.

There's not enough time or space to even begin to list all of the other services and advantages we have simply by being fortunate enough to live here. You know as well as I do that the list would be endless. Police. Fire Department. Armed Forces. Schools. And on...and on...and on.

Oh, did I mention that ALL of these things cost money? Did I mention that there are those who don't want to pay for them? I say that because I hear, much too often, that people simply don't want to pay ANY taxes at all! When that is said it causes me to wonder about where everything we take for granted would come from. On a personal note here I have to say something about the tax attorneys who are advertising all over the place about how YOU can get out of paying WHAT YOU OWE to the government. I mean, doesn't that smack of being at least a little bit illegal? "Hey, friends, I can save you $50,000.00 or more on WHAT YOU OWE (please note that "owe" word there!) to Uncle Sam! Call my free 800 number and we can cut WHAT YOU OWE in half or even more!" Um, if the Bible says "Give everyone what you owe," doesn't that include our tax bills? And, if we owe it, oughtn't we to pay it?

This is a long and complicated subject, I know and we can't go into all of the rights and wrongs. If we feel the tax laws are wrong then we should cast our votes accordingly. If we feel that the tax laws aren't so bad, then, again, we should cast our votes accordingly.

Let's not, however, feel that we don't have to pay our taxes because we feel that the government isn't using them as we thing they should. Hey, some of us think that people making millions, even billions, of dollars ought to get big tax breaks! Some of us think that the rich ought to pay a much larger percentage than they do. And there are most of us who are somewhere in the middle. As I said, it's very complicated.

Point today is that God says we should pay our taxes. Therefore, we should. Not doing so is sinful, simple as that.

"Teacher," they (the Pharisees) said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" And Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Mat. 22:16, 17, 21)

From Jesus' mouth. Yes, we should pay our taxes.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David