Prayer ~ Lord Jesus, just like You taught the Pharisees and Your disciples, we give to our rulers what is due them and to You what is Yours—everything. We praise You for who You are and ask for forgiveness of our sins…. Thank you for everything You provide for us and for the way you are always there for us when we call upon You.
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| Coins of the Bible |
Meditate.
Read God’s word and listen to what He is saying.
Tax Day in the USA.
Give to Uncle Sam the things that are his and to God the things that are God’s.
Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees, as written in Matthew 22:15-22, who were
trying to trick Him into saying that the Jews didn’t need to pay the Roman
poll-tax, and thus they could hand Him over to the Romans for punishment, or
that they should only pay the poll-tax and thus be disloyal to Judaism.
Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into
saying something for which he could be arrested. They sent some of their
disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him.
"Teacher," they said, "we know how honest you are. You teach the
way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don't play favorites. Now tell us
what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" But
Jesus knew their evil motives. "You hypocrites!" he said. "Why
are you trying to trap me? Here, show me the coin used for the tax." When
they handed him a Roman coin, he asked, "Whose picture and title are
stamped on it?" "Caesar's," they replied. "Well,
then," he said, "give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to
God what belongs to God." His reply amazed them, and they went away. Matthew 22:15-22 NLT
Jesus was so wise.
Likewise, we should be smart about how we handle our money. Pay our tithe,
taxes, take care of ourselves and our families, give to others, and save for
the future, but always trust in the Lord—who provides everything for us.
If you need to do some
monetary teaching in your family, get out some coins and dollar bills. Show
your children that the money is printed with the words US currency (or your
country’s name) and let them read, or read to them, what is written on the
coins and bills. If they don’t know yet about taxes, show them on receipts from
stores, gas stations and restaurants that taxes are paid each time we buy something
other than food. Then explain that we also pay a percentage of our income as
income tax. Due today. If you have 100 pennies available to you then have the
kids count them out and then divide them into piles for tithe, taxes and
spending pennies. You may even want to divide the penny piles into housing,
food, clothes, and fun categories. Of course, those spending pennies will then
be subdivided into money spent on products and taxes.
Show your children the
money again and point out the “In God We Trust.” Ask them what does “In God We
Trust” mean? Remind them that we trust God to provide that money for us. Pray
and thank God for all that He provides for us.
Verse
of Salvation ~ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take
credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good
things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's
masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good
things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians
2:8-10 NLT
© 2024 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
Parenting Day By Day - Daily Devotional for Building Character
Coins in the Bible: New Testament Stories
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