"I'm giving you my heart, and all that is within"

Luke 20:20-25
Paying taxes to Caesar
²⁰Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. ²¹So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²²Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

²³He saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴"Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?"

²⁵"Caesar's," they replied.
He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

What is God's? We are! We are made in the image of God... but have you really given yourself to God? Does He have control over what your hands do, where your feet go, what your eyes see, what your ears hear, what your lips say, and what your mind thinks? Often it is hardest (I know it is for me) to control sins of the mind- because unless you tell someone, no one else knows about them! That's a tough one! The other reason it is hard is because when we see the sin, we try to fix it. Wait- who took our sins? Jesus Christ! He should be the one you turn to and trust to take care of your sins. He will give you verses to encourage you, and He will put friends in your path to help you. Try and tell those friends what you're struggling with; it makes it easier to give God control of it. God wants to have control of our lives, and why shouldn't He? His Son gave up His life for ours! We are "Twice His- He made us and He bought us!" It's hard to give up control to anyone. As sinful people we see how we screw stuff up and we see how others screw stuff up. It's amazing to think that God never changes! Everything He has done has been in perfect accordance with His character; loving, loyal, and just. He has a perfect plan. Can't we trust Him?

Love in Christ,

Becky :)