Heavenly Taxes - March 20,
2001
Last week was a tough one for us. Both of our girls
came down with colds which they lovingly passed on to Pam
and I. There were several nights with more time spent out
of bed than in, lots of crying, medicine taking and
breathing treatments. On top of that the weather was
gloomy and we were tired of being stuck inside. All of
these added together to create an air of discouragement
and despair at the Morgan ranch. I thought, "What a great
time to work on my taxes!" I've found that it makes more
sense to tackle taxes when you are already depressed so
you don't ruin a good mood. It's not that I mind paying
my tax obligation, it's having to fill out all the
paperwork. Between our ministry and our personal lives we
end up filing five different tax returns! I have a word
for that ... yuck.
I was working on our business taxes when I came to a
form I wasn't sure if I was supposed to fill out or not,
so, betraying my natural male tendencies, I started
reading the instructions. Then I read them again. Next I
called our daughter Kayla over and read them to her, but
she couldn't make any more sense out of them than I
could. In fact, I'm not real sure they were even written
in English. I thought, this must be how the Old Testament
Jews felt. They had this huge set of instructions on how
to live a righteous life and the proper sacrifices to
satisfy their sin debt. It was a big job to make sure the
appropriate offering was made for each occasion and
offense (You wouldn't want to offer a thanks offering in
place of your guilt offering!). Worse yet, no sooner
would they get paid up than it would be time to start all
over again. I'm glad we don't have to live under this
burden today. Taxes are bad enough!
Many people have the idea that what Jesus did would be
like our President announcing that he was doing away with
taxes for good. Wouldn't that be something? (I'm not
holding my breath.) But what Jesus did went far beyond
that. His sacrifice was like the President saying, "Your
taxes must be paid, but I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll
come over to your house, sort through that big messy
shoebox of receipts, and fill out all the proper forms
for you. Better yet, when I'm finished, I'll pay whatever
you owe out of my own pocket and you won't ever have to
worry about it again."
The cost of sin is the same today as it was for the
Old Testament Jew. The price is high, but it must be
paid. The difference is, we have Jesus who paid our debt
with His own life so we can live beyond the bondage of
sin. We don't have to offer a sacrifice for our sin, not
because it is no longer required, but because it has
already been offered once and for all time.
Give this some thought as you wade through your 1040s
and As and Cs this year. And when your patience is low
and frustration is high, stop a moment and thank Jesus
that your heavenly taxes have already been paid.
(All this talk has got me wondering ... Do you
think the IRS would accept a bull as payment? If so, how
am I gonna fit it in the mailbox?) "
