Thursday, 22 March 2012

Putting the Right Foot Forward

Prepare: A testimony is utterly worthless unless it is backed by deeds which prove its sincerity.
Read: Luke 19:1-10

Dr. Boreham has a terrible story. There was a meeting in progress at which several women were giving their testimony. One woman kept grimly silent. She was asked to testify and she refused. She was asked why and she answered, "Four of these women who have just given their testimony owe me money, and my family and I are half-starved because we cannot buy food."

Zacchaeus was a man who had reached the top of his profession and was also the most hated man in the district. He was wealthy but not happy. Despised and hated by men, this tax collector was reaching for the love of God. He was determined to see Jesus, and would let nothing stop him. So he ran on ahead and climbed a fig-mulberry tree. And Jesus saw him and said that He would visit his home. That visit changed Zacchaeus completely.

 In his restitution he went far beyond what was legally necessary. Only for robbery and a destructive act was fourfold restitution necessary. (Exodus 22:4,7., Leviticus 6:5, Numbers 5:7). He was determined to do far more than the law demanded. His deeds showed that he was a changed man. It is not a mere change of words which Jesus Christ demands, but also a change of lifestyle.

Respond: A man is lost when he wanders away from God; and he is found when once again he takes his rightful place as an obedient child in the household and family of His father. 

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