If you are a United States citizen then it is getting to be that time of year again. And by “that time of year” I mean tax time wherein we get to take stock of our fiscal 2017 and see how much, if any, income tax that we owe both our state and federal governments.
For the last 5 years I have been in a position where I am paid a salary plus commission on sales. Commissions, if you were not aware, are not taxed at the time that they are paid out, unlike salary. And the tax rate for commission is 25% which means that one fourth of every dollar that I made in commissions in 2017 I now owe as tax.
This being my 5th year on the job my wife and I are well familiar with this process and have a savings account set up into which that 25% of every commission dollar gets deposited every week as I get paid. So even though we know that we have taxes to be paid we have put ourselves into a position where we should have the resources that we need to make that payment.
Let me tell you, that is a far better position to be in than my first year on the job when we were unaware of how commission was taxed and how much commission I was going to make and were given a large and unexpected tax bill that severely depleted our savings account. That was frightening and certainly not any fun and it is far better to be in a position of plenty (like we are now) than in a position of lack (like we were then).
I think for many of us who call ourselves Christians we don’t really understand or realize what a position of plenty we now have. We are truly and richly blessed although many, many times we fail to acknowledge our blessings and even worse, we fail to take advantage of them. God has promised to provide everything that we need as long as we continually place our trust and hope in him. It really couldn’t be any more simple than that although the actual practice of doing it can be much more difficult than just understanding the principle behind it. And in that respect, I can promise you that I am no better than anyone else!
We all fail to be as thankful as we should be and we all fail to take advantage of all that God has given us. But aren’t we thankful that God is merciful and patient with us and gives us chance after chance to grow and become more like him? Aren’t we thankful that sanctification is a process and that God honors our efforts to seek him and know him more? And aren’t we thankful that, with our repentance, yesterday’s failures have no power over what God can accomplish in us and through us today? I certainly am!
So as we go forward from today we need to realize, afresh and anew, how much God loves us and what an amazing position of plenty that he has placed us in. No matter what our earthly circumstances might be and no matter how big or how small our bank accounts on earth are, our heavenly bank accounts are always filled to overflowing and we lack for nothing when it comes to being all that God wants us to be and doing all that God wants us to do.
We are blessed. Now it’s time to do something with all that we have been given and to thank God for his love and care for us.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 (NIV)