And they watched Him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of His Words, that so they might deliver Him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked Him, saying, Master, we know that Thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? But He perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? Show Me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? And He said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s. And they could not take hold of His Words before the people: and they marvelled at His answer, and held their peace. Luke, Chapter 20, verses 20-26.
I keep having problems with this one. I’ve sold several different products in side-line businesses for the sole purpose of trying to give Caesar a little less of what seems mine. (Now there is nothing wrong with having a side-line business or selling things to gain a profit. My goal was distinctly motivated toward being able to legally keep more of my money, although I did everything in my power to do it legally.)
Writing this book has made me more aware of my motives. I have given up the side-line businesses, since my motives weren’t in-line with what God would want me to do. I keep letting worldly things sneak in and put a wedge in my relationship with God.
I guess I have two options when God makes me aware of these things. I can try to ignore them and pretend that I have blinders on and don’t really understand what He is showing me, or I can make the changes necessary to be in-line with what God wants. In order to do that, I am donating the profits I get from this book to a non-profit organization or a charitable cause. Money wasn’t the reason I wrote this. I felt strongly led to share these insights with you, with the desire that you would better understand the positive influence the Bible can have in your daily life.
Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage. Debbie
