Campaign Of Reconciliation
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "
8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
9Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Bee's Thoughts:
I have heard of non Christians and even 'Christians' who say that they don't go to church because of the people in the Church. It's very sad to hear that. Yet Jesus said in v10 that He "came to seek and to save what was lost".
Only the sinners need Jesus Christ. If anyone claim to have no sin, he doesn't even see the need of Christ. So only those who know they are sinners will go to church to seek God. Going for Christian fellowship is a commandment in both the old and the new testament.
Dear Lord,
I am a sinner saved by grace. Therefore, I have no right to point a finger at anyone, except to ask for Your mercy to keep me in Christ. Thank You for seeking me and picking me up when I felt lost in the world. Thank You for Your love for me.
Praise You always. Amen.
Tommy's Thoughts:
We may think that it is enough to follow Jesus in our head and hear, without any change in behavior resulted from our faith. We sit back, waiting for God to come to us, changing and moving us to act in certain ways.
But, in today’s passage, we read that Zacchaeus who after meeting with Jesus showed an inward change by his outward action. Instead of leaving everything to God doing nothing on his part, Zacchaeus moved into action as a way to demonstrate his faith.
Dear Lord, thank You for teaching me to make positive and proactive change in my attitude and behavior after proclaiming my faith in You. Thank You for coming into my life when I was lost and helpless on my own. Thank You for Your love and forgiveness, that make me anew each and everyday. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
