The Zacchaeus Attitude
When we know of the need of a disabled or elderly person, or another who is
needy, and we say
(or think),
"Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,"
but we DO nothing
about his physical needs, what good is it?
"In the same way, faith by itself,
if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
These startling words are not
a modern opinion, but a quotation from the New Testament. A dead
faith is a dreaded situation that we should flee from like the plague.
Lord save us all from being infected with an aliment whose symptoms reveal that
our faith is DEAD.
The antidote is Christian
compassionate action in behalf of a needy person. The underlying motivation
to demonstrate such action grows out of a close encounter with Jesus Christ.
Zacchaeus, who had been a rich tax collector
suddenly was transformed into a generous person. The tax collectors of that day
typically were unfair and greedy people. Yet he said, after spending a short
time with Jesus, Master, here and now I will give half my possessions to the
poor and if I have cheated anyone I will pay back four fold.
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