28 December 2025

RENDER TO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE HIS

(Biblical Teachings on The Christian Life.: BTCL 14)

The chief priests and scribes tried to trap Jesus with a “trick” question: “Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?”. To say “Yes” the Jews would not favor Him and to say “No” the Romans would arrest him. Jesus gave a wise answer, which becomes a spiritual principle for us. He said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20: 25). We pay our dues to the Government (taxes, GST, etc.), but more importantly we must pay our dues to our Creator God and Redeemer.

King David asked himself, “What shall I render to the Lord For all His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. I shall pay my vows to the Lord, in the presence of all His people” (Psa. 116:12-14). He knew the blessings He had received were from the Lord. The key thought behind his words of gratitude is to praise and worship the Lord and then fulfill the vows and promises he made to the Lord. God has saved us and done so much for us, how can we not give Him the worship due to Him?

The next important thing is to return to Him some of the blessings He has given to us. These are in terms of tithes and offerings. The tithe is the Lord’s portion and He commands that we return that to Him so that He can use it for the extension of His Kingdom in supporting His work and workers. The offering is a voluntary form of giving to the Lord out of our grateful heart. The more we love God and appreciate His goodness to us the more we will give freely to Him. Tithing is an act of obedience to God’s command, and giving of offering is a sign of our devotion to Him. Both are done in the spirit of faith and love, knowing that He will bless us as we faithfully give our dues to Him (Malachi 3:10).

Another way we render to the Lord is our service – to serve Him in the Church and in other ways He shall indicate to us. We are to “serve the Lord with gladness” (Psa.100:2). We should always consider it a privilege and a joy to be serving God in any capacity, big or small. There is so much we can do for the Lord in the Church. Our government talks so much about “Giving back to the Community”. How about us Christians giving back to God’s Community – the Church, as an act of love to Him and out of gratefulness for His blessings? Ask God how you can give back to the Church in terms of your gifts and talents. It is in serving that we grow strong spiritually – in faith, love and knowledge.

Notice in the above verse David says, “I will pay my vows to Him in the presence of the people”. There are times when we promised God something that we would do for Him; however, we may have forgotten about it for some reason. But when the Holy Spirit reminds us about it, then we need to fulfill those “vows” or promises made. It is a serious pledge and we need to prayerfully seek God how to fulfill it. Fulfilling our vows is rendering to God what is due to Him. It is in doing so that we will be blessed all our life.

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