Luke 20:25

Luke 20:25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s and unto God the things which be God’s. (KJV)
…He said to them, “Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” (NIV)

Last week we were in Findlay, Ohio for IMPACT, our church conference, and the National Bible Quiz Finals. We have been studying the book of Luke for quizzing this past year and the young people did very well in the finals taking third place in both the junior and senior high divisions. We even had three of the young people place in the top ten for their division. Rosalie Wills placed third out of all the quizzers in the senior division and Chris and Ryan Munn tied for eighth place in the junior division. We congratulate all our quizzers on a job well done.

After the quizzing, we were privileged to hear several relevant and dynamic speakers. One of them used our verse for this week, a verse from Luke, that set me to thinking. We are to give “God what is God’s.” Well just what is God’s? The speaker pointed out that we, that is, all human beings, have been bought with a price. First Corinthians 6:20 says, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” God’s Son, Jesus, paid the penalty for our sins – he bought us with the blood he shed on Calvary. We could not pay the price ourselves by trying to do good works. We could never do enough good works to earn our way into Heaven. We were eternally lost – without hope – until Jesus bought us with his blood sacrifice. Since God did this for us, what should we do? We are to glorify God in our body and in our spirits. We are to serve God and give Him the glory for any good works we do. We don’t do good works in order to earn Heaven, because that could not happen. We do good work to glorify God, to honor Him, to thank Him for saving us.

IMPACT will not be held any more, but the conference plans to do some things that will help us be more “engaged” in showing Christ to the world. We hope this new emphasis will help us reach others with the gospel by Christians “becoming the hands and feet of Jesus.” How can I be more engaged in showing Christ to others? How can I give God what is God’s – How can I give myself to God? It is going to take more than just going to church. I might have to get my hands dirty. I might have to move my feet to places outside my comfort zone. In order to give God what is God’s, I must be more engaged in doing the things that Jesus wants me to do and not take credit myself, but give the credit to God. How about you? Are you willing to be God’s hands and feet?