“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7, ESV).
This year, we were all required to file our taxes on July 15th instead of April 15th. This is never pleasant, but it often leads to a great game called “Can you deduct that?” Here are a couple of deductions that I found very creative:
In 1962, the IRS added a provision that allowed a tax deduction for clarinet lessons based on an orthodontist’s recommendation that the woodwind instrument could help correct a child’s overbite.
The owners of a junkyard put cat food out to attract feral cats. They deducted the expense claiming the cats kept out rats and snakes. The IRS allowed the expense.[1]
In Galatians 6:7, Paul uses an unusual word most often translated “God is not mocked.” In Greek, it means, “You can’t turn your nose up at God.” In English, we would say, “You can never make a fool out of God” (God’s Word translation), or “God is not to be ridiculed” (International Standard Version), or “You can’t outsmart God” (New International Reader’s Version). But people try to trick God all the time.
Once a man came home drop-dead drunk. His patient wife ushered him to bed, pulled up the covers, and asked, “Harold, would you like me to say a prayer for you?”
The man mumbled something, so she began, “Lord, please forgive my drunken husband …” Harold interrupted and said, “Don’t tell Him I’m drunk, say I’m sick.”
How can we act pious on Sunday and disgrace the family of God for the rest of the week?
You can’t make a fool of God. That statement seems so self-evident, but people try to trick the Lord all the time. It often reminds me of the small child with his eyes tightly shut, who declares, “You can’t see me!”
Once W.C. Fields was killing time in his wife’s hospital room. He picked up the Bible and began reading. She looked at him and said, “I didn’t think you believed in that stuff. What are you doing?”
“Looking for loopholes, my dear, looking for loopholes.”
Are you looking for a loophole? Which way is your nose pointing today?
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/07/5-weird-tax-deductions-the-irs-has-allowed.html