Reflecting on This Week's Scripture

Isaiah 45:1, 4–6 We are to worship God alone, the God who calls us by name.

Psalm 96 “Give the Lord glory and honor.”

1 Thessalonians 1:1–5b We have received the gospel not only in word, but in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 22:15–21 “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

Cyrus, the great Persian king, did not know God. But Isaiah maintains that God called him by name. The people of Thessalonica did not know Christ. But Paul asserts that the Holy Spirit brought him and the gospel to them. Jesus proposes that we should repay to God what belongs to God. Whether we are conscious of it or not, all we have been given— including our very life—comes ultimately from God. May God’s word remind us that we too belong to God.

What can I do concretely to repay to God what belongs to God? How does giving back to God make me feel richer?