It's often been said that there are only two sure things in life: death and taxes. So far it's been proven correct from the worlds point of view. The "worlds" point of view is self centered. The Christian point of view is to be God centered. Thought I would give some clarification on "the world" as I use it often and haven't done so before. The epic battle is self versus God. Really it's between "god" small "g" and "God" as in the only one God. "Taxes" is the connection with the "world" and "death is the connection with "God". We cannot escape the latter. In the long run anyway. Taxes are something else. It would seem, like everything, that mankind has worked harder at avoiding taxes, escaping taxes and eliminating taxes from their lives all in vain. In the end the "taxman cometh." God's been there all along. Even though we look at death as something that happens at the end of our physical life, the truth is all people are born "dead" and only have life when they surrender their lives to Jesus. Then it's His life that is infused into our dead lives. Those who have not given their lives are the walking dead. Within this understanding of spiritual death we come to the understanding that paying taxes isn't so bad compared to eternal life.
I have a problem with expectations. Not just the expectations that are put upon me but the expectations that I have of others. We go to bed with expectations and we wake up with expectations. Some are realistic and others totally out of line with reality. The world expects us to pay taxes. God expects us to obey him. The Bible says we cannot serve both money and God. What a quandary! One of the very premises of living in America is the exact opposite of living for God. Well, maybe not. While it's true that we do have the choice, in some sense we don't. There is the expectation we obey God. What happens when the world asks us to obey them instead of God? Do we go along with the world? Do we tell God that in this case we need to obey man rather than God? If and when we do, what is it that we expect God to do to get us out of our dilemma of living a dead life? God expects us to obey him. Whatever belongs to Caesar belongs to Caesar...as in taxes. Expect to have to pay taxes...at least while you are living. Expect taxes but depend on no man for what God gives you.
Depending on anyone other than God will bring you heartache and disappointment. People will fail you. You will fail people. God never fails us. Combining your expectations with your view of who God is grounds you and I to His reality. Combining your expectations with your view of the world ground you and I to the worlds reality. The two clash. Those two worlds come into conflict the moment you say, "I give you my life Jesus." They don't end until your physical death and change of address to heaven. In the meantime we are asked to pay taxes so that Planned Parenthood can kill 1.5 million babies every year. We are asked to pay for corrupt government agencies and all kinds of stuff we don't even know about. We are told to pay up for those who refuse to work and to give of our income to subsidize ungodly projects in the of this world. What is the Christian to do? What do you do? What do I do? Do we roll over and play dead? Do we stand and fight the good fight? What can I expect from you? What can I expect from the world? Nothing. BUT I can expect that God who is nearby, close to me, loving on me, protecting me, and fighting for me will continue to do so as long as I honor Him. What we depend on in our life creates our expectations. If we depend on the world we will be disappointed. If we depend on God we won't be disappointed. It's your choice.
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