I almost lost track, today is April 15th, tax day in the U.S. Which brings to mind these two famous quotes:

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin Quote

“Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” – Matthew 22:21 KJV

So, today is the day we render unto “Caesar” (or give unto our presidents) by paying our taxes. And the day we die is the day we ultimately render unto God what is His. Of these two things we can be sure.

One of our readers submitted the quote:

“I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”

Any casual reader of the Bible should know that these are the words of Jesus Christ as written by the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation. “I am the Alpha and the Omega” can be found in Revelation 1:8, 1:11, 21:6 and 22:13. I find it interesting, that like all good teachers, Jesus realizes the importance of using repetition to reinforce and anchor the truth of His words. For example, we see the use of “verily, verily” throughout the Gospels (King James Version) whenever Jesus makes a point that He wants to stick in the minds of the hearers.

So what truth is He trying to get to “stick” with us by stating that He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, four times in Revelation? Namely this: that Jesus Christ is God. He says that the “Father and I are One” time and again. And if you recall the passage in John 8 where the Pharisees “took they up stones to cast at him”, it was right after Jesus said this:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. – John 8:58 KJV

Note the use of “verily, verily” which means “truly, truly” – He wants this to stick. In this passage Jesus refers to Himself as “I Am”, or in other words he claims to be God Himself, who existed before time. This is a core tenant of Christianity, that God took upon flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, and is thus called Emmanuel, i.e., God is with us. He was, is, and shall be forevermore: the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning, the End.

A lot of people believe in Karma, and I would venture to say that not all those who believe in Karma believe in God. Are God and Karma related? Can you, or should you, believe in both? Today’s quote is:

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”

Sounds a lot like “what comes around goes around” which is a simplified view of modern day Karma. Do good things, and good things will return to you. Do bad things, and they will come back to bite you, unless you do good things to fix the bad things. There’s even a TV show (Earl) built completely around that premise.

So, is today’s quote from some secular writer or philospher who believes in Karma, or, is it a verse or quote from the Bible revealing God’s position on Karma.