REFLECTION FOR THE WEEK
“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’s and to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21)
When Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’s”, his assumption was that Caesar’s claim would be just. He wasn’t giving Caesar a blank cheque.
We live in a world today where the state is so much without God and where the state no longer bases its laws on God’s laws. There is therefore a serious dilemma for Christians, which is how to be a Christian in a secular world where the laws may often be unchristian.
And, let me say this, for Christians we cannot separate our faith from our actions or our belief from our occupations. We cannot spread our hours before us, saying, this is for God and this is for myself; this is for my soul and this is for my body. Our daily life is our temple.
As Christians our first and deepest loyalty is to God. We are called to acknowledge the sovereignty of God.
As a result, we must not be afraid to stand up, to speak up and be counted in a world that often ignores the value of Christ.
I want to end with the Prayer of Ignatius of Loyola – “Lord teach us to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward except that of knowing that we do your will”.
I pray that the Lord will help you live in such a way that you will be good servants of the state, but the servants of the Lord first.
Have a wonderful week.
With blessings,
Venerable Prebendary Tunde Roberts