Claiming Our Dependency

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:5

In their book Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner explain how a simple change to US tax rules in 1987 exposed the depth of the public’s willingness to deceive for financial gain.

In the 1980s, an IRS research officer in Washington named John Szilagyi realized that many taxpayers were incorrectly claiming dependents for the sake of exemption. Sometimes it was an honest mistake, such as a divorced couple each laying claim to their children; sometimes not so honest, such as dependents’ names that had to have belonged to family pets.

Szilagyi’s idea for solving the problem—requiring taxpayers to submit their dependents’ Social Security numbers—gave off a Big-Brother feel at the time, and it was dismissed. Just a few years later, however, the idea was dug up in an effort to gain tax revenue, and the returns that following April were shocking. According to Szilagyi, seven million dependents had vanished from the tax rolls. His simple idea had captured $3 billion in revenues that first year alone.^a

Some people will do just about anything to cut corners and shave off the truth if it means saving some money—even inventing some children. But on this day, April 15, when every American’s taxes are due, it’s good to remember that in truth, we are the dependents. We may not be listed that way on a tax form, but we are in the book of heaven. We are children of God. And we depend on him for peace (Isaiah 26:3), for strength and protection (2 Thessalonians 3:3), for victory (Deuteronomy 20:4), and everything else. According to today’s verse, he “will never fail you,” “never abandon you.” Make a point of acknowledging this truth with your spouse today. Have you been satisfied with what you have, or do you need to commit to improving in that area together?

God is looking for imperfect men and women who have learned to walk in moment-by-moment dependence on the Holy Spirit. Christians who have come to terms with their inadequacies, fears, and failures.

—Charles Stanley

^a 40

From the book