One day while Jesus was passing through Jericho, a man named Zacchaeus came to see him. If you grew up in Sunday School, you know that Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. You also know that he wasn't a particularly good man; he was a tax-collector and a dishonest business man. Since he couldn't see in the crowd, he climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view of Jesus. The Bible says...
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today." (Luke 19:5)
I love the urgency in Jesus' words: "Come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." Jesus was saying, "Zacchaeus, don't wait. Don't put this off. Something important is about to happen."
How, then, did Zacchaeus respond?
So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. (Luke 19:6)
He invited Jesus into his house. He didn't say, "I'm not ready. My house isn't prepared. I don't have enough food. I don't have any party favors on hand. The place is a mess...Can we do this a week from Friday when I've had time to get things in order?"
Instead, he seized the opportunity to have Jesus come to his home. What happened next? This spur-of-the-moment meeting led to a life-change for Zacchaeus. He said, "Jesus, I want to start doing things right. I'll give half of my money to the poor, and I'll pay four times the amount to anyone I've cheated." And Jesus said...
"Today salvation has come to this house." (Luke 19:9)
Salvation came today, because Zacchaeus responded to the invitation today. He might not have felt completely prepared to have the King of Kings enter his home, but he didn't put it off. And his life changed as a result.
What life-changing invitation have you put off? Maybe something important is ready to happen. Is there something you can do about it today?
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