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Day 12
Jesus entered
Jericho and was passing through.
A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and
was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being
a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he
ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming
that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and
said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house
today." So he came down at once and welcomed him
gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter,
"He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'" 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 what was lost."
(Luke
19:1-10)
Imagine the
thoughts that must have raced through Zacchaeus’ mind that day:
“Could Jesus really be the long-promised, long-awaited
Messiah? If so, would He really know or care about a
sinner like me?” All those questions were answered
when Jesus stopped purposely right at the foot of tree in which Zacchaeus
was perched, called Zacchaeus by name, and said, “I must stay at
your house today.”
In baptism
and Lord’s Supper Jesus deals with each of us personally and gives us the
same answers: “Yes, I am your Savior.
Yes, I know you and call you by name. Yes, I forgive you.
Yes, I must stay in the home of your heart today. . .tomorrow. .
.forever.”
Like
Zacchaeus, when Jesus invites Himself into our homes, we welcome Him gladly.
For Zacchaeus welcoming Jesus into his home and heart also meant
doing some house cleaning. It meant getting rid of the
thing in which he had trusted . . . the thing he had made his god. . .
money. Had Zacchaeus had big plans for all that money?
I imagine. But, now none of that meant anything
in comparison to his Savior.
Could it
mean anything else for us? We cannot serve both God and
money. Faith desires to daily sweep clean whatever might
try to compete for lordship with our Jesus. Jesus in our
heart and home means all that we have is offered and put in service to that
most Gracious Guest of sinners. Like Zacchaeus, our
security no longer depends on our bank accounts and portfolios, but on our
Savior’s care. Like Zacchaeus, our offerings reflect
that trust and tell our family and friends that Jesus is our treasure and
security. Like Zacchaeus, our plans for the money we
have involve God’s plan of saving souls . . . God’s plan that transcends all
understanding.
Questions to Consider
1)
Do I
sometimes forget how intimately Jesus knows me . . .my heart. . .my needs?
2)
Do I
treasure my baptism. . .Lord’s Supper. . .
my personal devotion time. . .as times when Jesus comes to me
personally?
3)
Have I
responded to Christ as the Guest of my heart and home?
Have I done it like Zacchaeus did?
Have I done it financially?
4)
What “house
cleaning” do I need to do today that will make it evident to all that Jesus
is my Gracious Guest?
Prayer
Dearest Jesus, Gracious Guest, be my greatest
treasure today. . .tomorrow. . .forever. Cleanse my
heart and life that all I have may be put into service for you.
Amen. |
