– Scripture:

Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.
5–7  When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”

                          Luke 19:1–7 MSG

– Reflection:

              Zacchaeus – A Secret To A Changed Life

When Jesus could have spent time with any local religious leader, He chose Zacchaeus, which everyone else found disgusting. Zacchaeus was the despised chief tax collector in the region, known for cheating people and called a notorious sinner. Religion says, “He’s too bad. He’s scum. Stay away.” Sometimes religion portrays an image of God where you can’t measure up, and it uses guilt and your feelings of unworthiness to try to get you to live right. But God says, “I gladly welcome Zacchaeus. What he has done does not cancel out My mercy.”

Where do we go from here?

“When Zacchaeus realized that God loved him unconditionally, even when he had made mistakes, he decided to change his ways, and salvation came to him. Sometimes we think that by pointing out people’s mistakes and making them feel guilty, they will change. But condemnation doesn’t lead to improvement. It is when people hear about a God who shows mercy when they deserve judgment that they will change. The Scripture says, ‘It’s the goodness of God that leads to repentance.'”

Our Prayer for Today

“Father, thank You for knowing everything about us and still inviting Yourself to dinner at our houses and bringing the gift of salvation. We are grateful that it’s not about our performance, being good enough, or being worthy because we wouldn’t measure up, but Your love strengthens us. Welcome to our houses. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”