Render Unto Caesar

I was reading Matthew 22:15-22 this morning. In this passage, the Pharisees tried to trick Jesus into saying something against Caesar or the Roman government, so they asked Him if it was right to pay taxes if He doesn't regard men. Jesus asks for a coin and then asks them whose image and inscription is on it. They answer, "Caesar's." Jesus replies, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's." For years, I thought this just meant that we were supposed to pay our taxes and submit ourselves to the governments where we live, provided they are not commanding us to do something against our beliefs. This morning, it meant something totally different. Jesus asked whose image and inscription was on the coin and when they said it was Caesar's, Jesus' reply means the coin is Caesar's because it has his image and inscription on it. The coin belonged to him. The Bible says we are created in the image of God. Also, God created us, much like an artist creates a painting. In most paintings, the artist signs his or her name, even though they often leave signature strokes in various places that separate their works from the works of any other. You won't find some small tattoo of God's signature on you, but you can see His signature in the brilliant complexity of everything in your body, from larger organs like the brain to almost infinitely complex human DNA strand that the body replicates perfectly countless times a day. If you are imprinted with His image and have His signature on you, you are His. The Bible says we are to give Caesar what is Caesar's and give God what is God's. If we are God's, then we are to give ourselves to Him. Another aspect of this is Jesus didn't say, "Cut the coin in half, then, and give half to Caesar." The whole coin was given. Likewise, we are to give all of ourselves to God, not just a certain portion. Here's where the analogy breaks down a little: most people had multiple coins, only some of which were required in taxes, but you have only one you and God wants far more from you than Caesar ever did. Your entire self belongs to Him. The advantage, though, is that He knows what to do with you far better than you know what to do with yourself. In a movie, one kid picked up a guitar and started playing, but the music was awful. A father figure came in, took the guitar, played a few bars perfectly, and handed the guitar back to the boy, saying, "It sounds fine to me." The guitar was the same, but one player was a novice and the other a master. In your life, you are that novice. You pick at a few strings and try to find the right chords, but you're slow, clumsy, and sound flat or sour notes more often than pure ones. God is the master. He knows exactly what to do in your life to make the most beautiful song possible come from it. It doesn't mean you'll enjoy every bar as it happens to you, but the end of the song is going to be triumphant on a scale that the Hallelujah Chorus can only dream of...but only if you give your life to the Master. It's His anyway.