Jesus taught to ‘render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’. Peter would later write to ’honor all people’ and ‘honor the king’. Christians should give respect and honor to those who are deserving of that distinction.

We should also pray for our government and those in power or authority as the inspired apostle Paul taught us.The government of any country is only there because God has allowed this to occur. Does any government properly honor the God of Heaven and use the principles set forth in the Bible? That is another thing altogether. Most would say that they do not, however God, in Romans 13, tells us to be obedient to the laws of the land.

This is good and right to do. Christians must always follow God first, but should also bethe best law-abiding citizens of the land.

Christians are taught by Paul in his letter to Timothy to pray for the ones in power so that Christians can lead a tranquil life and be able to spread the good news of Jesus.

Therefore, each of us should pray for the men and women in power. Pray that they will turn to God and His Word for guidance and wisdom in governing the land. Even more importantly, pray that all Christians will have the ability to practice our religion without persecution.This article was prompted by the fact that we observe several Federal Holidays throughout the year in the USA. No doubt, many other countries also celebrate particular days as well.

This got me thinking about how the government sets these up for a reason. Many of them fall on Monday, in the USA, and I was wondering why that is and how that came about.

Turns out a quick check online about the evolution of President’s Day in February revealed the answer. Now, not all of the holidays fall on Monday, but several do. The reason is so the government is not shut down during the middle of the week. Of course, some holidays still happen that way, but the majority of them are on Monday.

As citizens we may like certain things the government does, like give us three-day weekends off, but not like many other things they legislate. The Bible does not tell us to pray for only the good things we like about the government. The Bible does not teach us to honor them as long as it benefits us. The Bible teaches us to respect the government, obey the laws, pray for the government to allow us to live peacefully. It is sometimes easy to complain about the government and focus on all the things they get wrong, but there are many benefits to having a government as well. Read and study what God desires for us to do, even as regards the government of our countries.