respect authority

Today we read something that might surprise us in the One Year Bible, from Romans 13:1-14. Paul tells us to obey the government. That God put the people who are in charge into their positions, and we should obey them or we will be disobeying God.

But Paul! You might say. You haven't seen who we have in charge! No matter who you're thinking of, Paul could trump you. He wrote Romans while Nero was in charge. If you don't know about Nero, look him up in wikipedia. He was NOT the sort of leader that one thinks of as "God appointed." He was more like someone who thought of himself as god.

However, Paul realized that we need to learn to obey authority not because they DESERVE to be obeyed... but because it's important that we become the sort of people who respect and obey authority. Our society values rebellion and disobedience... but throughout the Bible, especially in the passage from today, we are taught to obey the authorities. The only time we are to disobey them is if obeying them means directly disobeying God. Otherwise, render to the government what belongs to them (including taxes! Paul says) and give God what belongs to God. That is: yourself.

God, thank You for helping us become people who respect authority.