UNTIL HE MET JESUS
Zacchaeus Loved Money
by D. E. Stribling
God's Love In My Heart Makes All the Difference THEN YOUR REWARD WILL BE GREAT . . .But love
your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get
anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of
the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
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Zacchaeus,
the tax collector who climbed a tree to see Jesus, offered to give half
of his wealth to THE POOR, after being in the presence of the Master. That
may not be everyone's response to having been in the presence of Christ,
but the fact that Zacchaeus did so raises a question.
If money is as important to us today as it was to this greedy tax collector, then we might have a similar reaction to being in Christ's presence. If it had been of little value to Zacchaeus, then the story may have been different. God has a way of bringing us all to the place where we need to be. The Holy Spirit is continually smoothing our rough surfaces. Gossipers learn to speak kindly of others, complainers become grateful, and people whose lives are controlled by their money begin to turn loose of it. When we give money to the poor, it is a jolting experience. There is a dynamic that comes to bear on our lives. We know the poor will not be wise with the money as we have been. This is part of the mystery. We have always thought of investing to increase the value of our money, then Jesus comes into our lives and says, give it away, not just anywhere but in particular to the poor. He says the Father has
given you the Kingdom. Your true riches are there, not on this earth. When
we start to act on this truth, we start building up treasure in heaven.
And our time in this realm will be more blessed too.
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