Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion from Come & See: Cowboy Devotions to Strengthen Your Ride with Christ.
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Then the Religious-Know-It-Alls tried to trap Jesus with His own words so they could arrest Him. They sent some people to ask Him, “We know You’re a great cowboy and a good teacher of what the Boss wants. You don’t care what men think about You or what they say. Since You don’t care, is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar?”
Jesus knew they were tryin’ to trap Him with their words, and He said, “Why are you dealin’ words off the bottom of the deck and tryin’ to trap Me with the dead man’s hand of aces and eights? Show Me a dollar that you would pay your taxes with.”
They showed him a silver dollar, and He asked, “Whose picture is stamped on this dollar?”
“That’s Caesar’s picture,” they said.
Then He told ’em, “If it has his picture on it, then give it back to him. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to the Boss what belongs to the Boss.”
They didn’t know what to say to this so they just left. — Matthew 22:15-22
The Pharisees and other religious people were constantly trying to trap Jesus with something they could hang Him over. They were right: Jesus didn’t care what men thought, but He wasn’t just out there running His mouth off either. Jesus was God in human flesh and had the wisdom of God to go with it.
Jesus was always pointing the way to God. He reaffirmed what our priorities should be: Give to God what is God’s and give to man what is man’s.
But let’s not miss the real thing that’s going on here.
They’re trying to trap Jesus. That’s what this world does. It tries to trap the good. It’s going to happen to you too. The problem is that you don’t see the trap until it closes. That’s why it’s called a trap. The only way to avoid it is to follow Jesus like He’s leading you through a minefield. If He told you to step where He steps or you’d get blown up, then you’d probably do it.
That’s what the Bible is for us. It’s our path through the traps.
It takes diligence and intentionality to pay attention to what’s really important and not get caught up in the catcalls that distract us from the traps.
Cowboy Call
Don’t get caught up in the trap of meaningless conversations. You want to know how to spot a meaningless conversation? It looks exactly like a tumbleweed rolling aimlessly across the prairie, stirred by the wind but going nowhere. If it feels like someone is trying to prove you wrong, or make a point out of you, stop and ask God for the words to help you respond. He can give purpose to the conversation.
Excerpted with permission from Come & See: Cowboy Devotions to Strengthen Your Ride with Christ, copyright Kevin Weatherby.
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Your Turn
Remember this today: Give to God what is God’s and give to man what is man’s. Hang tight to biblical truth and listen to the Spirit’s leadership in every interaction. He will help you! ~ Devotionals Daily