Obey Caesar

Scripture:
"Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar." (Acts 25:8)

Yesterday I took a vacation day to go fishing with some new friends. It had been a long time since I had done any fishing and I wanted to get to know them better. We left about 6 am and had a two hour trip to their favorite fishing place. During that time I found out that the place where we were going required a California fishing license and I do not have one. (I thought we were going to a pay-for-what-you-catch fishing place.) I was told that only one of my friends had a license but not to worry.

Now that did not make me feel very comfortable at all. So when the time came for me to borrow a fishing pole, I declined and told them I would just watch and enjoy the day.

The day went very well. I sat in the sun with the cool lake breeze for a while, then I went for a hike around the campsites that were near by. I took a short nap on one of the picnic tables and spent some time walking the shore and praying.

However, the day did not go so well for my fishermen friends. No, they did not get any tickets, but they did not catch any fish either. That's right. They told me that this was very strange and that this has never happened before. They told me normally they get at least 6 fish each but yesterday they did not even get any bites. It was like the fish had decided to swim to the other side of the lake yesterday.

Paul claimed that he did nothing wrong. What a powerful statement. Can we say that? Now don't think that I am boasting here. I am really not. Most of the readers of this blog would probably do the same thing as I did by obeying the laws. But, I do think that it is more than just a coincidence that nobody caught any fish.

ps. The fishing place where we went had an "honor" envelope to pay for fishing. They had not paid for the spot when we entered by they did when we left.

Request:
That we may continue to be a strong witness to the people God puts in our path.

Prayer:
Thank you Lord for using our lives to reach others.