Matthew 22:19-22 “Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.”
The Pharisees were constantly trying to trap Jesus in his speech. This was just another attempt to trap Him. Jesus made a distinction between the things of the world and the things of God. The world system operates on money. The Kingdom of God operates on faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen”(Hebrews 11;1) The definition of the word substance is: “the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists and which has a tangible, solid presence.” In other words, faith, in the kingdom, is as tangible as material things in the world.
Jesus said “give to God what is God’s.” In the world we use money to access the things we want to have. In the Kingdom, we use faith and prayer. Hebrews 11:6 (NLT) “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”
All the promises of God are accessed by faith. Promises of health, wealth, wisdom, an abundant life. It is by faith that we become born-again children of God and it is by faith that we continue to access all the blessings of the Kingdom. When we go to God in faith and prayer, He supplies all our needs. Money is just one of the things that God supplies us with. It is He who gives us the power to get wealth. We cannot, however, worship God and money. We have to choose God over money.
Thank you for your writing, a reminder so prominent in a time where we are all at a crossroads; the babylonian system, or the Kingdom of God. There is no sitting on the fence.