Scripture Read: Romans 13:1-10 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. 8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law
Application: Many times, the Christian family behaves as if they are above all governments because we are citizens of heaven. True, our first allegiance is to God and our eternal home with Him – but that should make us the best citizens wherever we are in this world. A key to that is our conscience …
Conscience - συνείδησις suneídēsis; to be conscious of. Conscience, to be one’s own witness, one’s own conscience coming forward as witness. It denotes an abiding consciousness whose nature it is to bear inner witness to one’s own conduct in a moral sense (Titus 1:15). It is self–awareness. [1]
Once again the idea of Conscience trumps the obvious reason for doing something. Yes we should obey so we can escape the pain of punishment, but just as important, if not more, is the fact that we should have peace with God and ourselves to do what is right, just because it is right. This is an area I think we all need to further explore. Many children of God do not pay close attention to their own conscience. Many, due to sloppiness, make their conscience hard or deaf. They place callous over their conscience or allow “wax” buildup in the ear of their conscience. Struggling with habitual sins can do a lot of damage to our conscience. How do we begin to re-tenderize our conscience? We want this to be Your property Lord, so we can know that You are working there. Please help us oh Lord. We love You!
* Meditation Questions: When I sin, what do I do? How long after I realize I have sinned do I talk to God? Do I take time to reflect each day on my sin life? What about “little” sins? How much time do I spent planning to live versus time spent regretting what I did?
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