As Alisa Bonaparte, Napoleon s sister, lay dying, someone in the room observed that nothing was as certain as death.
Taxes do seem to be an unavoidable fact of life, as well as death.
With the exception of accountants and the IRS, April is probably not a favorite time of year for the average citizen, particularly for those of us who are still scrambling to meet the April 15 th filing deadline. However, as Christians, we need to guard against a similar tendency to let the taxpayer s mentality distort our view of biblical stewardship. The first class is of those who live simply for their own sake and pleasure, regarding Man and Nature as so much raw material to be cut up into whatever shape may serve them. The second class are those who acknowledge some claim upon them the will of God, the categorical imperative, or the good of society and honestly try to surrender to the higher claim as much as it demands, like men paying a tax, but hope, like other taxpayers, that what is left over will be enough for them to live on. These people have got rid of the tiresome business of adjusting the rival claims of Self and God by the simple expedient of rejecting the claims of Self altogether.