Transformation through Repentance: Zaccheus

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” ~ Luke 19:1-10

Jesus said that salvation came into this house today.

 Zacchaeus was saved that day.

 Not someday.

 Saved before a drop of Jesus' blood was spilled.

 Saved doing something that most likely others did that followed Jesus, but without the fanfare.

 Transformed by showing hospitality without questioning it.

 Transformed by something - someone - taking him completely by surprise. Transformed into letting generosity pull him to new places.

 It reminds me of another character whose heart was transformed by love coming into his life:

 "He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming! It came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling. "How could it be so?

It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"

He puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!

And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say
That the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!"(Theodor Geisel - Dr. Suess) 

 Zacchaeus and The Grinch had something in common. They lived lives built around self and an idea about the worth being measured in terms of "stuff."

 And then Goodness walked in and turned them around.

 Love caught them and they were transformed. Saved. 

 Hearts can be transformed today, not simply to have a salvation in the great by and by.

 But today. Right now.
Prayer: Love walk in and capture me that I can walk in love as well. Right here and right now. Amen


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