What Does God Want? – The Saturday Morning Post By Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Passage – Proverbs 19 – 21 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text)
(Second Milers also read – Mark 13 – 14; Psalms 96 – 100; 19 Proverbs 21)
Scripture Memory for July – Hebrews 1
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 51
morning. In Mark chapter 12, we find the Pharisees and Herodians tempting Jesus again: trying to get the Living Word of God to slip up with His words. The Bible says, “And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.” (Mark 12:13-17)
Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s. Render unto God the things which are God’s. What does ‘Caesar’ want. ‘Caesar’ wants your money so he can make his big government even bigger. ‘Caesar’ wants you to buy something you can’t afford. If you do not, he will tax you. A good example of this is what Samuel, the high priest, told the people when they wanted a king. “And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.” (1Sam. 8:11-18).
A sad parallel to what is happening in our country. So, basically, ‘Caesar’ wants everything. What does God want? He wants YOU! God doesn’t need or want your money, but He does want you to be obedient to tithe so He can bless you. If you ask anyone who gives their tithe (or more) faithfully, they will tell you that God allows them to do more with 90% than they could ever do with 100%.
Another item to render unto God is your love. When asked what the greatest of all laws was, Jesus replied, “…The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31).
If you render these two possessions unto God, it’s a good start. Everything else will fall into place.
Peace. (Luke 1:76-79)
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