Romans 14:12

Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Today’s verse is continuing yesterday’s discussion. Let’s review: Who is your Boss? Is dad or mom your boss? No! Is Pastor Price your boss? No! Is Granddaddy your boss? Yes! Just kidding! No, Granddaddy is not your boss either. Then Who is your boss? God is your boss! So, if in Ephesians 6, God puts your parents in charge of you, God is your boss and so are your parents your bosses. If in Hebrews 13, God puts your pastor in charge of your spiritual training, your pastor is your spiritual boss. That is called delegated authority. God is in charge of you, but He puts your parents in charge of you here on earth. God is in charge of you, but He puts your pastor in charge of you in the church. But all of us are accountable to God. God is my boss. God is your parents’ boss. God is Pastor Price’s boss. And God is your boss! Someday I will stand before God and answer for how I have taught my family. Someday your parents will stand before God and answer for how they have taught their kids. Someday Pastor Price will stand before God and answer for how he has taught Providence Baptist Church. But don’t forget: someday you will stand before God and answer for how you have obeyed God, your boss.

Romans 14:4

Romans 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. This is a great verse, but is has words that are a little hard to understand. We don’t have servants and masters today, but we do have bosses and employees. Your dad is a boss and has several people working for him. But what if a truck driver from another company came in and started telling everyone what to do? What if he told the greenhouse workers that they were doing everything all wrong and they should do things this way and that way? Should anyone do what he was telling them to do? Of course not! That is because that outside truck driver is not their boss. Alex is their boss. The workers have to listen to Alex and not to some stranger truck driver. And that is exactly what our verse is telling us. God alone is our boss! We need to read in the Bible and find out what God wants us to do? Should you listen to Granddaddy telling you what to do? No – unless Granddaddy is telling you what God says in His Bible! Should you listen to your mother and father? No – unless your mother and father are telling you what God says in His Bible! Should you listen to your pastor? No – unless Pastor Price is telling you what God says in His Bible! God is your boss! Do what He says. Can you see how important it is to read the Bible? We have to find out what God, our boss wants for us to do. Our parents and pastor read the Bible and tell us what God says to do. And we should read the Bible for ourselves to find out what to do. We need to listen to God, our boss!

Romans 13:13,14

Romans 13:13,14 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. The end of verse thirteen has a list of items in it for us not to do. But the Apostle Paul begins by telling us that we should be honest as in the day. When do thieves usually go around stealing things – in the daylight or at night? Thieves like the darkness of the nighttime to cover their wicked deeds. But the first half of our verse tells us to be honest like people who are going about in broad daylight. But then Paul goes on to tell us three things that we should not do. First is rioting and drunkenness, which means wild partying. We should not be involved in wild partying. Then second is chambering and wantonness. That means sexual sins. We should keep our bodies clean and pure for God. And third and last is strife and envying. That means trouble and jealousy. Paul tells us to avoid all three of these kinds of sins. And then verse fourteen tells us to put on Jesus Christ. Now that is an interesting phrase. How can we put on Jesus Christ? Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand up against Satan. We put on Jesus Christ the first thing in the morning just like we put on our clothes and get dressed. If we start our day by praying to God, we will have a good day. So tomorrow morning, just when you wake up, before you even open your eyes, while you are still laying there in your bed, talk to God and ask Him to give you a good day. When you do, you are putting on Jesus Christ. He will be with you all day long!

Romans 13:11,12

Romans 13:11,12 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Have you ever put off doing what you should have been doing? It could be that your mother asked you to clean your room and you got distracted playing with the things that you were supposed to be cleaning up! And an hour later your mother called, “Are you almost finished with your room?” And you hadn’t even started to clean it! You might think, “It is high time that I should get my room clean!” And so it is with our Christian life. It is “high time” that we should put away the wicked things of darkness and start to let God, the Holy Spirit clean up our lives. Don’t put off doing the right thing. Get busy right now!

Romans 13:6,7

Romans 13:6,7 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. In Matthew 22, the Pharisees tried to catch Jesus in a trap. They asked Him a tricky question. They asked Jesus if they should pay taxes to Caesar. If Jesus said no, the Romans would get Jesus for not paying taxes. If Jesus said yes, the Jews would get Him, because they hated the Roman taxes. But Jesus was smarter than the Pharisees. He asked them to get out a coin and look at it. He asked them, “Whose image is on the coin?” They answered Him, “Caesar’s image is on the coin.” So Jesus replied, “Give to Caesar what is due to Caesar and give to God what is due to God.” Jesus was reminding them that we should pay taxes in this physical world, but give to God our hearts in the spiritual world. Our verses remind us that our government is there to help us live a peaceful life. We should pay our taxes so that the police can be paid and protect us. We should pay our taxes so that our roads can be paved and bridges maintained. Our country needs to be protected by the army, and our taxes go to pay for our army. All of this is necessary, but don’t forget God. Don’t forget the spiritual world and our spiritual needs. Remember, give taxes to the government, but give love and devotion to God.