Luke: 19:8-10
How often do you think back to who you were before Christ? When I think of my own life, I would put myself in the “most unlikely to be transformed” category. What a change - it’s almost unbelievable. Transformation is incredibly awesome, isn’t it? I’m overwhelmed at the thought of how Jesus intentionally seeks out, accepts, and saves the lost. I’m so thankful to have experienced Christ’s love and grace. Zacchaeus too was an unlikely candidate for spiritual transformation. If you’re not familiar with Zacchaeus, he was a villain of sorts; a rich man who was hated, a money loving tax collecting robber who was despised. This guy wasn’t just any tax collector, he was the chief tax collector in the region. Ironically his name means “pure” or “acquitted one”. For those of you who attended Sunday School, are you singing the “wee little man” song? If you weren’t, you are probably singing it now. Let’s put that song out of our heads as a new song awaits! Check out today’s reading in Luke to see something amazing, something almost unbelievable.
Luke 19:8-10 “But 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.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Seriously? Did those words really come out of Zacchaeus’ mouth? He is going to give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back those whom he cheated by repaying them with four times the amount, which by the way, is according to the Mosaic Law and you can read about in Exodus 22. The “taker” Zaccheus is now the “giver”. Change. Dramatic change. Undeniable change. Something has happened on the inside. Inside of that house, inside of Zacchaeus. The door closed, the door opened but what exactly happened? What conversations took place? The scriptures don’t say but knowing our Lord and the two things that he often spoke about were conversations about “man's need” and “God’s ability to meet that need”. That’s what the finished work on the cross is all about. That need is met. God does it and Zacchaeus gets it. A sinner’s heart turned from stone to flesh, a new heart, a new song. Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” The promise of transformation and change was not only for Zacchaeus but salvation for “this house”, a Resurrection Day indeed! Dr. J. Vernon McGee said, “Zacchaeus didn’t come to the door and say, ‘I'm going to do better, or I’m going to join the church or I’m going through a ceremony’, but instead Zacchaeus lived a changed life.”
Friends, the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. Jesus has come to save a sinner and desires a heart change. Are you ready for a change, the kind of change that only resurrection power can do? Talk to Jesus today about your soul and your salvation. And, this is a great reminder of why we are sent into the world—to live a changed life, to bring the gospel to others, to let them know that, no matter how twisted or broken their lives have become, there is love and salvation and healing in God. There is no greater mission than this—to be vessels of God’s transformation to every human being, and to the whole of God’s creation. Join the mission of Jesus Christ! There is much transformation yet to be done…in us…and, in the world.
Luke 19:8-10 “But 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.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Seriously? Did those words really come out of Zacchaeus’ mouth? He is going to give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back those whom he cheated by repaying them with four times the amount, which by the way, is according to the Mosaic Law and you can read about in Exodus 22. The “taker” Zaccheus is now the “giver”. Change. Dramatic change. Undeniable change. Something has happened on the inside. Inside of that house, inside of Zacchaeus. The door closed, the door opened but what exactly happened? What conversations took place? The scriptures don’t say but knowing our Lord and the two things that he often spoke about were conversations about “man's need” and “God’s ability to meet that need”. That’s what the finished work on the cross is all about. That need is met. God does it and Zacchaeus gets it. A sinner’s heart turned from stone to flesh, a new heart, a new song. Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” The promise of transformation and change was not only for Zacchaeus but salvation for “this house”, a Resurrection Day indeed! Dr. J. Vernon McGee said, “Zacchaeus didn’t come to the door and say, ‘I'm going to do better, or I’m going to join the church or I’m going through a ceremony’, but instead Zacchaeus lived a changed life.”
Friends, the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. Jesus has come to save a sinner and desires a heart change. Are you ready for a change, the kind of change that only resurrection power can do? Talk to Jesus today about your soul and your salvation. And, this is a great reminder of why we are sent into the world—to live a changed life, to bring the gospel to others, to let them know that, no matter how twisted or broken their lives have become, there is love and salvation and healing in God. There is no greater mission than this—to be vessels of God’s transformation to every human being, and to the whole of God’s creation. Join the mission of Jesus Christ! There is much transformation yet to be done…in us…and, in the world.
Posted in Devotional