Authority from God

Happy Labor Day, everyone. I hope you are enjoying your day off from work and/or school like I am. Here is a devotional from the LCMS quarterly Portals of Prayer that was in our worship bulletin yesterday, and worth thinking about given the recent political climate in Washington over the debt ceiling and contenders for the 2012 presidential election.

Matthew tells how the Pharisees and the Herodians tried to trick Jesis. "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" they asked (Matthew 22:17). If Jesus answered no, He would be in trouble with the Roman rulers for denying Caesar's authority. If Jesus said yes, the Pharisees would say He was betraying the Jewish nation by supporting Roman rule.

Looking at the coin that bore Caesar's image, Jesus simply said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (v. 21). Jesus revealed that we live under two authorities, Caesar's and God's, and that God has established both.

Today, we also rightly pay taxes, obey the laws established by legislators, and acknowledge heads of state. Some officials may be corrupt; even so, God has placed them in offices of authority over us.

Unline Caesar, God does not tax--He gives. He does not burden--He frees! In Christ, God came to bear our load and be our Savior. To Him alone belongs all our worship and praise!

Prayer: Lord, thank You for earthly government, that we may have peace and order in our daily lives, and Your sacrifice on the cross, which freed us from sin. Amen.