“Well then,” he told them, “give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (v. 25)

Caesar can have some stuff.

He can have his taxes. He can have our civil obedience, when he is just. He can have respect.

He can have the things that are his, on the earth.

But he can’t have the things that last. The things that matter. The things that are God’s.

We, in our short-sightedness, get this wrong sometimes. We complain about taxes and laws and governors, sure, but we’re also really quick to give our hearts to preferred politicians. Instead of categorizing them as Caesars—instead of counting them all as things that won’t last—we slide into steeper pledges and deeper devotion…and we give them the parts of us that ought to be God’s and only God’s.

Give the government what is required, and what it can rightly claim. But your heart, your passion, and your fidelity ought to be His.

— Tyler