Zacchaeus is Changed by Jesus
If you will come near friends, change is promised. Zacchaeus was changed by Jesus when he came near. We read: "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 19:8-10 NIV)
This was probably later in the day, after they'd spent time together at Zacchaeus's house. Jesus, being Jesus, likely had a few words with this man. And Zacchaeus was never the same. He was reformed, changed, saved from his life of sin and made new!
Opening Every Room
Let me paraphrase something that Keith Drury wrote in his book Holiness for Ordinary People. Think of your life as a house. When you first invite Jesus in, He doesn't just want to sit in the living room for tea - He wants to renovate the entire house! So He starts with the obvious areas - your public life, your actions, your speech. But then He wants to go deeper, into the private rooms of your thoughts, your habits, your attitudes. Sometimes we try to keep certain closets locked, holding onto pieces of our old life. But Jesus keeps knocking on those doors, waiting for us to surrender every area to His transforming work.
Zacchaeus was changed by Jesus because he invited Him into his life and let Him do a complete remodelling. He took away the room for greed, the room where selfishness was. He changed this man's life because he held nothing back.
Don’t Hold Back
Are you holding something back? You want to be a Jesus follower, but you don't want to part with your money, or stop certain habits, or begin new spiritual disciplines? You just want to carry on, without the guilt.
Friends, Jesus changes lives. He changed Zacchaeus from a thieving tax collector into a selfless worshipper. Don't hold back. Don't keep Jesus out of some of those rooms in the home that is your heart! Surrender them to Him. Give them up! The biblical word is “repent”. Turn away from those things that shouldn’t be in your life.
I believe Jesus is waiting to cry out "Today salvation has come to this house"! because you made an entire commitment to Jesus today, and let Him do a remodel of your heart and life.
May it be, that like Zacchaeus, your life is changed today by Jesus.
