Death and taxes....

Death and taxes....two things that are certain in life.....

We’ve all heard this saying before, it’s up there with some famous quotes. Probably not as famous as when kids in my high school poli-sci class would say “that’s not fair”, and the teacher would say “that’s where the farmers go in august to buy their equipment.” Groan!

Both true (apparently they used to at least buy it at fairs), but one is absolutely certain: your body will fade away someday. One of the things I have to do at work, is look at risk. How much risk is it worth to perform an action, or provide a service, compared to the payoff. But do you realize we do the same thing every day of our lives? You get up, get dressed and go to work, and in that you make a 100 or more decisions to do that despite the “risk” that is presented to you. Your car could explode (low risk), you could get hit by a drunk driver (moderate risk), or you could slide into a ditch (high risk) because it is icy out. All of these are risks, some more realistic, but nonetheless, risk is involved.

Let’s change the rewards a bit. Would you race to the hospital with your pregnant wife during a snow storm (ok, maybe drive slow)? Would you make a Taco Bell run during the same snow storm? One clearly requires us to accept some risk, and the other, would be foolish.

Today, if you are being honest like I’m going to try and be, you probably do not take much risk for Christ. I don’t, not really. In fact, I’m probably risk adverse because my greatest risk is that of embarrassment. Today, in the US, there is zero chance I would be punished, or worse, because of my relationship with Christ. But in some countries, and going back to the Apostles, they had very real risk every time they opened their mouths. Uttering His name, could bring a flogging, or even death. They took risks to share the Gospel that we enjoy today.

But what if they viewed risk differently? What if they viewed not being obedient to the Holy Spirit as the real risk. They looked at being beaten, or executed, as less of a risk than disobeying the promptings of Christ? What if we began to view risk differently? What if we too, looked at being mocked, ridiculed, maybe even fired, or catching a deadly virus even, as less of a risk than not sharing His name?

In risk analysis, we look at the reward, and the chance of something going wrong. Is there reward so great, that even if the worse case happens, it would still all be worth it? That’s a question for every Christian, and it’s especially important today, because many are searching for Hope. In the midst of every news cycle of a spike here or there, death, and on, people want to find something that brings them past this. I submit, the only way to get through any situation, especially a pandemic situation, is with Christ

If you know Him, are you “risking” something to share His message? In 2021, instead of looking back at what we missed, look forward to what we can share. For regardless of the risk, the eternal reward will outweigh all....even death....and taxes.