Good Morning Friends!
“After Jesus and his disciples arrived in
Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked,
‘Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?’ ‘Yes, he does,’ he replied. When
Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. ‘What do you think, Simon?’ he asked. ‘From
whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes -- from their own sons or
from others?’ ‘From others,’ Peter answered. ‘Then the sons are exempt,’ Jesus
said to him. ‘But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out
your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a
four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.’” (Matthew
17:24-27)
There are times to take a stand even if it
means offending people. Jesus did when He went into the Temple and drove the
money changers from it.
There are also times to give up your own rights
in order to keep from offending people. That’s what Jesus did in the passage
above. He had a right to claim exemption from the temple tax, but to keep from
offending those responsible for it, He paid it anyway.
I know I have a hard time deciding when it is
time to stand and when it is time to give in. I do think there is a clue in the
life of Jesus. Jesus gave in when it was His own rights that He had to set
aside to keep from offending. Jesus stood firm when it was the rights of others
or the principles of God that were being challenged.
But for me, my rights are usually the hardest
to give up! Lord, help me to overcome my own selfishness in order to think more
highly of others than myself. Help me not to cling to my rights no matter what,
but to willingly lay them aside for the sake of others, especially those who do
not understand!
Remember, He gave up His rights for you!
His, by Grace, Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment