Tax Day

Wish you could escape tax day by heading into the mountains?

Today is one of our favorite days of the year! The calendar on my phone calls it “TAX DAY”. Some folks are getting a refund, so the day doesn’t seem so sinister. The only reason that you didn’t get your refund earlier is that you procrastinated. Some of you got smart and dumped the whole pile of receipts and paperwork in the lap of a competent CPA. If you’re really blessed, you might even have your own accountant working for you or your company. Or you might be saying, “Since the government has extended the deadline to July 15, I’ll just wait until July 14 to do my taxes.” You know who you are.

Years ago I took my taxes to a CPA. He mailed my tax forms to me with instructions a few days before taxes were due. My tax bill looked overwhelming. I called him to ask him how this could be. He said, “You didn’t make quarterly payments.” I responded, “I did make quarterly payments.” He said, “You didn’t tell me that.” I said, “You are the professional and you never asked.” He also left out a few things because he didn’t understand some of the issues of figuring out how to file for a “minister”.

From then on I have always done my own taxes. I well remember going to the Post Office to get an armload of tax forms to take home and fill out by hand. My taxes are complicated because I’m given a dual status by the IRS. I’m considered an employee for the sake of income tax and self-employed for the sake of social security. I used to really stress out over taxes for two reasons: It was stressful to figure it all out; and it is stressful to send my money to the U.S. government, knowing that they will spend it with such care and responsibility—or should that be with such careless irresponsibility. So with that excuse, I tend to procrastinate. I usually put off doing my taxes until the last minute. Now it’s much easier because they have all the forms on the internet, and all you have to do is download them and fill them out on the computer. So now the really hard part is that transaction whereby my money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury. That’s hard.

But we just celebrated an amazing transaction.

The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Furthermore, it says, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

So there’s the bad news. We are all guilty, and Tax Day is coming. Nobody is free from this tax burden. The tax man cometh, and he cometh for all of us.

But here’s the good news: Our taxes have been paid. They have been paid in full. A wonderful transaction has taken place in which the perfect Son of God went to the cross and paid my taxes for me. He took my sin and extended His righteousness to me. Not only did He take care of the tax issue, He offers me so much more. He offers me His righteousness and eternal life with Him besides.

But here’s the big question: Are you procrastinating? Are you putting off dealing with the issue of of your eternal future because…well, because you’re still alive. This is one tax day that’s not on your calendar. But the trouble is that none of us know when that day will come. It could be today. If today turns out to be the last day of my life, I can rest assured that my taxes are paid. If you’ve never received His gracious offer of salvation, there is no better time to deal with it than the present. The Bible says, “Now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.”(II Cor. 6:2 NASB) As He reminds us in Hebrews 4:7, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Don’t procrastinate. Get right with God today and live ready.