October 7, 2024

Romans 13:1-7 (HCSB)
A Christian’s Duties to the State
13 Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. 2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4 For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience. 6 And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s public servants, continually attending to these tasks. 7 Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.

Tammy Perkins
I heard from my pastor many years ago, that if we believe in the sovereignty of God, we must believe that God has a specific purpose for every single person He places in positions of authority. I know that is probably a hot topic these days as we prepare for another presidential race! Who do we vote for? Does it really matter who we vote for? What if we do not like or agree with either candidate? What does the Bible say about this? The Bible says "The authorities are God's servants, sent for your good" (Rom 13:4 NLT). If this is true, then we should be praying for those in authority. If you are praying for someone, then you don't have time or energy to hate them.
The Bible even goes a step further and says that we are to love others as ourselves which fulfills the requirements of God's law in Romans 13:10. We will talk more about this tomorrow. So, if we are praying for those in authority over us and showing them love, how can we not respect and obey them rather than gossip and complain about them? No matter which side of the political fence you are on, I challenge you to spend time on your knees daily for whomever God places into authority over our city, state and nation! Equally as important, we should be praying for those in authority over us at our jobs and our church, as well. God knows what He is doing. He has something important for us to learn from each person He places into our path. It is our job to learn those lessons well and be prepared to teach them to the next generation.