I think I speak for most of us (tax accountants and H & R Block employees excluded), when I say that April 15th is not a date that we look forward to. It is more than just the day when our taxes are due, it is a day of reckoning. It is the adult version of report card day. It is the day when full disclosure of last year’s financial deeds, whether good or bad, are due. Our fiscal souls are bared before the mighty hand of the Internal Revenue Service. March may come in like a lion and go out like a lamb but it is April that begins with a day for fools and then empties our pockets.
April 15th is unavoidable. It was Benjamin Franklin who first uttered that “in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Of course, there are other certainties; cats will always land on their feet and buttered toast will always land buttered-side down. However, there is no fitter partner to the black shrouded reaper than the innocent looking Form 1040 and so Franklin’s coupling has stood the test of time.
While April 15th is unavoidable, it is by no means unendurable. Deductions, tax-planning, and withholding are all words that speak to what can be done ahead of time to prepare ourselves and lessen the day’s sting. In fact, April 15th poses no problems for those who are prepared!
There was a time for all of mankind when our April 15th came. Our bill was due and we were unable to pay. Jesus stepped forward at the cross and paid the price for the debts of all people for all time. To accept His payment we can do what 3,000 people were told to do in Acts 2:37-41. Or, we can choose not to accept His payment. One thing is certain, we will stand before God one day prepared with our debts paid or unpaid. Why live in fear when you can live in freedom?
May you be found prepared and paid for on that great day.
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 