Good day and happy humpday. I still wonder how the ‘n’ got behind the ‘d’. I’m loving the weather, what a joy to be able to tool around in the Miata and enjoy the pleasant coolness along with the sunshine. Last night after Marge got home from work we jumped in the Miata and went where? You got it, Taco Tuesday at Rosa’s. A convertible on a beautiful day can transform a mundane trip into one that exhilarates. Especially if tacos are on the other end!
You know life has a way of grinding on us. The days can turn into monotony as we move along through the journey, we need to make sure that we have something that fuels our passion, something that can bring a smile as we walk here on this planet…a hobby. I hope you all have something like this that you can spend time on, something you look forward to. I have people tell me that Facebook is their hobby but that’s really not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a passion that God has put into your heart and also blessed you with a talent to do. Seek it out and let the gift God has given you put a smile on your face.
Today we are in Romans chapter 13, there are only 16 chapters in this book so we are only a few days away from moving into the next New Testament book, 1 Corinthians, which is another letter from Paul. Today we will be dealing with a topic that I bet most people that aren’t familiar with the Bible would NEVER imagine is in there. Respecting the government and submission to authorities.
What? God’s Word talks about respecting the President of the United States? Yep. But He’s a jerk, the guy before him was better. Or how about the guy before him was a jerk, this guy is better. I’ve heard it all and it never stops. Check out what God says about it all:
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement.” Romans 13:1-2
Politics was the hotbed of heated discussion in the days of Paul and it is absolutely no different today. The Pharisees in Paul’s day were hard-hearted and stiff-necked and were in rebellion towards the Roman empire. They didn’t respect the authority of God and they didn’t respect the authority of the Roman empire. You see, respecting God goes along with respecting our current leaders. Well, you might say, I’m not gonna do it, this is the worst President in the history of the world and I will not submit to him or like him. Well, if you believe in God’s Word and you believe this verse then you’re really resisting God not the president. God’s the one that controls the world and therefore He’s the one that put him in office. You see this is not a political argument or about some world leader, this is just one more example of man's sin nature and his constant rebellion towards God. Politics in our day is deemed as an ‘acceptable’ way to lambast, criticize, ridicule, slander and flat out insult our leaders. Folks, God says if you do that, you resist Him and will incur judgement. I wouldn’t recommend that.
By the way, this brings up a great point about how we treat and speak of our leaders today. It hurts my heart when I see the President of the United States of America being ridiculed, insulted and humiliated in every way possible on television, online and in print. I see cartoons, memes and parodies that spew hatred and anger towards our president and other leaders. If you disagreed with your Pastor one Sunday would you dress up like him and act like a buffoon on national TV and insult him in front of the world? I sure hope not. If you don't like a decision your boss makes do you create a hateful meme and post it all over the internet? I sure hope not, you'd probably be looking a new job. What we’re seeing is not someone’s opinion of a man or woman in authority but the condition of that person's heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart flows the mouth.” (Luke 6:45) The angry, bitter heart will spew forth anger and bitterness. The angry, bitter person that rejects God will reject others with anger and bitterness. We as servants of God are projecting an image of our Heavenly Father and the world is watching. It’s all about respect, plain and simple.
Now don’t spin this into a two party political argument, I'm not a political guy. (To the best of my knowledge and research I don’t think the word politics is even in the Bible.) I’m not a true fan of how our leaders treat our nation’s money and how much debt we have as a nation, but notice that nowhere in this verse does God ask me what I think or how I feel. God doesn’t ask me my opinion, He asks me for my obedience and submission. In fact, speaking of money, lets move on and see what God says about taxes. What? Yep God talks about taxes in His Word too.
“Pay to all what is owed to them; taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” Romans 13:7
If God appointed the government and its leaders then God has also appointed the tax structure that’s in place. Pay what you owe and move on. Again, you can protest in the streets about taxes but that is rejecting God and the one that does this will incur judgement according to our verse. I’m not crazy about the taxes I have to pay but in submission to God I pay them and count myself fortunate to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Don’t complain and argue about it either, it infects others with negativity. We need less complaining and negativity today, wouldn’t you agree?
Also, check out the beginning of verse 13:7 , “pay to all what is owed to them.” That’s crystal clear and includes everything and everybody. God covers all the bases here. The follower of Christ should be honorable in the repayment of their debts. If you borrowed something, give it back. If you owe somebody money, get a second job until you pay them back. If you have a credit card pay it, on time. This also ties into the next verse Romans 13:8, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other.” It also ties into Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” God is not only making a statement here about taxes but about debt and our obligation to it.
12 years ago Margie & I found ourselves battling a lot of personal debt. We both had great jobs but saw almost every single penny we made go right back to pay for cars, home mortgage, credit cards, and student loans. We felt hopeless that we had worked so hard for college degrees, to get great jobs, make decent money and we had nothing to show for it. You see we were slaves to the lenders as the verse says, and that’s exactly how we felt. Slaves with no hope of freedom. We discovered the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace program and it changed our lives and the trajectory of how we would be able to serve God in the future. We became extremely dedicated to getting completely out of debt and learning how to live without debt. It took years of hard work and extra jobs but we finally achieved it. We paid off every single debt we had on this planet including our home. My friends, if you ever want to experience true financial freedom, if you want to live your financial life the way God intended us to live it, dump the debt and live within your means. Act your wage.
We believed in Dave Ramsey’s program so much we started a chapter at our local church and started hosting the classes. We passionately wanted others to experience the financial freedom that comes with living debt free. Over several years we saw many family trees changed as people learned to view and deal with money and debt completely differently than what our society teaches. To this day, Margie and I are 100% debt free and we don’t even have a credit card, not one. If we can’t pay cash for something, then we don’t buy it. We drive 10 year old nice cars and they drive better because they are paid for. We have a beautiful 1500 sq ft home and it’s the most beautiful home we’ve ever seen because its completely ours, paid for free and clear. You see, you can own things or things can own you. If you have beautiful things but are riddled with debt, stress and financial pressure then what’s the point? This is the Word of God, “owe nothing to anyone”, “pay to all what is owed them” and “the borrower is slave to the lender.”
This is a lot of practical issues that God deals with today, you see He is not only concerned about our spirit, but about how we live here on this Earth. We are His servants, His representatives while we walk this planet. Everything we do and say shows the world who He is and who we are as a follower of Christ. How we respect our leaders today speaks of Him. How we deal with our taxes speaks of Him. How we handle debt and its repayment speaks of Him.
My friends we are walking billboards for Christ, what is your billboard proclaiming to the world today.
I pray that your personal 5 minutes in God’s Word today showed you something that challenged you to the core to be better and in that, become just a bit more like Christ our beautiful Savior.
May God’s grace fall upon you today in plenty.
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