DO WE SHUN THE UNSAVED?

Luke 19:7b “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

Like the IRS today, government tax collectors are not liked. They are viewed as strict, restrictive, by the book individuals that seek to take our money when they can. Or at least this is how they are perceived, but one’s perception is their reality. Zacchaeus was one such person … a tax collector for the Roman Government. He was not welcome in common social circles and despised by the general populous. He was short in physical stature, so when Jesus came to town and was walking by, he scrambled up a nearby tree to catch a glimpse of this Messiah.

When Jesus spied Zacchaeus up in the tree, He told him to come down for He would be coming to his house for a meal. Imagine the pride and excitement Zacchaeus must have felt being called out of the crowd like that. The interesting part in all this is the verse listed at the top of the entry. Anyone would have loved to have Jesus, the supposed Messiah, as a visitor in their home. The stories they could tell their friends and family. That they had been picked out of a large crowd to host Him. But he called out a man that was vile and despicable to those around him.

How often I have seen non-believers in such a manner myself. How often I have shunned people because of their past or their appearance. Not knowing the facts, I have acted and in some cases still do act in a way that is so UNChrist-like that in seeing this others not knowing any better might question MY salvation.

Jesus came for the sinner, not the saint. We are all sinners, if the truth be known, so He came for us all, yet we deem it necessary to pick and choose those around us that we feel are worthy of knowing Him. I despise my own actions and yet fail to alter them with any regularity. What about you? When you find something distasteful about yourself, do you go about making alterations in the way you behave to better line up with God’s word?

The blessing comes when we realize that God knows this about us already. He is not shocked or surprised to see us act in such a manner. It is in the changing that the blessing comes. If we resist, we continue to fail. God is patient. He guides and directs. He instructs patiently. He is what we such strive to become. Becoming Christ-like, which is unattainable, is something we must reach for nonetheless. This side of heave we will never be perfect, but being more like Him needs to be our goal. May we never be the one saying “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” Instead, let it be said of us, for then will we know we are progressing in our quest to be more like Christ.

WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!!