Luke 19:1-10
Read through Luke 19 this morning.
It's about Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus is the Chief Tax Collector in a town name Jericho.
He is a very rich man. At that time, Tax Collectors are condemned people as they were seen as traitors to their countries. Collecting money from their own people and giving it to the occupating nation. They also had a bad reputation of extorting more money then they are required to tax upon the people. Therefore Hated.
Zacchaeus's response after encountering Jesus is what I want to focus on today.
Let's look at Verse 8. How Zacchaeus respond to Jesus after Jesus decided be his guest. Note that in verse 7 the people knew that Zacchaeus is not a righteous man and wasn't happy about Jesus staying at his place.
Verse 8:
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."
Now...what do you see here? I see two things . One; Immediate repentance. Two; A straight understanding of what is of more importance.
Zacchaeus gave half of his possessions to the poor and is willing to pay back 4 times the amount he has cheated. I'm not saying that once you acept Jesus as Lord and Savior, you'll need to give half of your possesions to the poor. It's his willingness to turn over a new leaf. Not only he right what he has done by returning back 4 times the amount he cheated(I think it is the jewish law;somewhere in Old Testiment) he makes the effort to do good by giving to the poor.
I don't think he cheats only a few people by the way. So to pay back 4 times plus half of your fortune is really a big thing in this case. Not many people can even give 10% of what they have nowadays. SO Check this out.
This also brings me to my second point. How he place aside his riches. To him it's no longer important.
This make me think. I do struggle with putting God first. I hardly do that.
So my prayer is this. That I'll put aside what is truely unimportant and put God first . Knowing and claiming Matthew 6: 33 that if I seek God's Kingdom and righteousness first, all I need will be provided. I also ask for a repenting heart. To turn aside from what is not right and seek to do good!
God blessed me with much. My family ate together...abit awkward but WELL!!! THAT'S a beautiful start! PRAISE GOD!!! First time in 15 years since my family spilt. The cold wall is there but to sit together to eat as a family, it's a beautiful gift from God. =]