Ah, April.
April gives us lots of rain showers (oh, wait…that’s pretty much the case every month in Oregon).
April gives us the season opener for baseball.
And April gives us Tax Day.
Taxes. Taxes. Taxes.
In Mark 12, some Pharisees and Herodians asked Jesus a huge question: “Should we pay taxes to Caesar or shouldn’t we?”
Jesus’ response in verse 17 was masterful: “Give to Caesar what belongs to him and give to God what belongs to him.”
The next thing the Bible says is: “And they were amazed at him.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t tell us whether or not they were obedient to his words.
Perhaps it doesn’t explicitly say so because it leaves room to insert OURSELVES into the story. Are we giving what we should to the government (our taxes) AND giving to God what already belongs to him (our tithes)?
The coin that the Pharisees showed to Jesus had a picture of Caesar on it. His portrait and inscription denoted ownership – the money was his. Jesus said: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” He is the owner and we are the steward.
In a larger sense, God is the owner of ALL we have. He releases it ALL to us so that we can steward it properly, and he only asks that we return to him 10% of it. That’s a pretty good deal.
“Give to God what is God’s.” (that’s 100% of it, in case you’ve forgotten). But all he wants is 10%. Again…that’s a pretty good deal.
You may ask: “Why does God want 10% of my money?”
He doesn’t.
He wants 100% of our heart.