LEARNT SEASON: A Time To Allow Christ to Change us For The Better



"Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. 

I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 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.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:1-10 NIV)

LESSON:
Question: Why did Zacchaeus only give half of his wealth to the poor? What happened to the other half?

He used it to repay those he had cheated "...and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” So practically, Zacchaeus, a very rich man, opened himself up to giving away everything he owned because of his encounter with Christ. Let us think about Zacchaeus and where he is today 2000 years later. I say he is probably in heaven because of that one encounter he had with Jesus. Imagine if he had made the wrong choice, he could be suffering in hell still today 2000 years later.

But Jesus is giving us today the same opportunity He gave to Zacchaeus. Maybe like Zacchaeus you are curious about who and what Jesus is all about, but Jesus is saying to you today "I must STAY at your house today" not just to visit but to stay permanently. If Christ is staying at your house then you must clean it up by tending to the less fortunate and making remediation for your sins through correcting the wrongs you have done. 

It's one thing to ask for forgiveness but it's another thing to make amends for the sins you have committed against your fellow human beings. Yes, Christ may have forgiven your sins to prevent you from going to hell after you confess and repent, but the principles guiding and guarding this world (different from that of heaven) may still demand a payment for your sins and someone has to pay for it. It could be in the form of temporary set backs, chaos in the family, missed opportunities, etc but it's always better to pay it here than to pay it in the afterlife. Think of David and how his last years were filled with chaos because of the sins he committed. Another example is Moses.

So this lent season, let us use Zacchaeus as our example and let the Holy Spirit lead us by clearly making known to us how we have wronged our fellow human beings so that we can right those wrongs. May He also give us the spirit to care for the less fortunate, our neighbors. Therefore, let us make sure that this period of lent is not just a time for reflection but also a time for action, like Zacchaeus.
Remember we are dust and to dust shall we return.

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