BIBLE STUDY
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path". Ps 119:105
Subjects
EFFECTIVE BIBLE STUDY
AN ESSENTIAL TIP
Look for Bible "echoes"
Ask: What does this remind me of?
Consider this example of when the Pharisees and Herodians attempted to catch Jesus in his words, so they could arrest him. They asked:
"Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay or shall we not pay?" Mark 12:13-17
Jesus recognized their treachery and asked for a penny. He asked "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied, "Caesar's," to which Christ responded, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
Fair enough. The clear answer is pay your taxes because they belong to man's system of things. But what are the things we ought to render to God? Look back to Genesis 1:27:
"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him."
Whose image and inscription are we? Jesus' full message is not merely to pay your taxes, but also that we are in the image of God and must render to Him His due by reflecting (or manifesting) His image and character.
This is not a mysterious connection. It is merely an association gained by careful reading.