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He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’ (Luke 19:1-10)
Jesus came to save the lost. Good thing because that includes me. And you. Jesus comes offering an eternity of life and goodness if we but turn our lives over to Him and repent of our sin. And that came to this "wee little man" in a parade. Hoping to see who Jesus was, Jesus saw him for who he was. Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus' house and though others grumbled, true change came to this man. Known as a rich man, who perhaps made his fortune defrauding people as was the custom of most tax collectors, this man in coming to know Jesus and in coming to know himself, gave half of his fortune to the poor and offered to pay back four times what he had cheated people out of; such was the gift of salvation to him.
When Jesus came into my heart, great things happened. And I would pray that the greatest thing was that I was different all the way through; from top to bottom, inside and out; to the point that people who have known me the longest would say I was no longer the same. I have shared how one of my Sunday school teachers at my ordination shared how out of all the students she had had, I was the last one she would have believed to become a minister. I would agree. I squirmed too much in class. My mind before it was on Jesus was on playing and having fun. Yet, when Jesus came into my heart, my mind went in a different direction - yes, I still squirmed and I still love to have fun, but in a different way. I still have a long way to go, but I go with Jesus, hand in hand...
What has happened in you?
PRAYER: Loving God, for the faith You have shared with me, let me continue to show the change that has come over me. I pray for this dear friend reading this; that she or he too, would know the change that comes when we surrender to Jesus. We pray in His name, Jesus our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
