Sunday, September 29, 2013

September 29: The changed mafia boss





He entered Jericho and was passing through. There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since He was about to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today I must stay at your house.” So he quickly came down and welcomed Him joyfully. All who saw it began to complain, “He’s gone to lodge with a sinful man!” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord! And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much!” “Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”  (Luke 19:1-10 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Tax collectors were Jews that chose to work for the Roman occupiers of Israel and were well known for getting rich by cruelly overcharging people on their taxes. Those who chose this line of work knew beforehand that they would be banned from entering the Temple in Jerusalem and disowned by their families, and chose to do it anyway. They were the type of people that valued money over God, salvation, and family. They would even hire people to go to the market and do their shopping for them because it was dangerous for them to be seen in public. Not only was Zacchaeus this type of man, he was a chief tax collector and had become rich from it. Today we might refer to his type as a mafia boss.

Do you want to know what repentance looks like? Look at Zacchaeus; it’s one of the most power forces in life. Though he was traitorous, sinful, hated, and godless, and the crowd marveled at how Jesus could even enter the house of such a man, repentance turned his life around in less than a day. When he stood up and announced publicly that he would give away half of his possessions to the poor, and repay anyone he had cheated four times the amount, that was true repentance. Not just words, not promises, but action. At that instant he proved to the Lord Jesus that money was no longer his treasured possession, now it was God. He was prepared to lose all his money, but was not prepared to lose Jesus that day. Imagine the peace and joy that Zacchaeus felt, and imagine what a refreshing night of sleep he must have had.

The meaning of repentance is the same for everyone, but what we have to repent of is different. Some people are like Zacchaeus; they have to give back money they have stolen. Others have to forgive people that have wronged them. Many have to break bad habits with God's help. Those who are doing what makes God unhappy need to turn their backs on those things. Like a cancerous tumor that has to be cut out of a patient’s body before it kills him, sin has to be cut out of our souls before it causes us to be lost forever. Repentance does not call you simply to feel sorry for what you’ve done, it drives you to remove the offending attitude or behavior and start doing the opposite. Repentance understands that what God has for us is worth more than all the world. 

Don't let any sin or weakness block you one more day from Jesus and salvation. It isn't worth it! What Jesus has for us is of infinite value. Zacchaeus was wise enough to recognize this.

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