Day 19
Start with Posture of Silence and Solitude (2 minutes)
Read Scripture: Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But 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.”
Devotional:
To finance their great empire, Rome levied taxes on all the nations under their control. The Jews opposed these taxes because the taxes supported a godless government and pagan gods but they were still forced to pay. Tax collectors were despised by the people. The ones in Israel were Jews by birth and considered traitors by the Jewish people. The benefit to being a collector was great wealth. The crowd was upset when Jesus told Zacchaeus he would dine with him but Jesus loved him and he became a believer. Through Jesus, the lost can be forgiven and made new.
Questions to ponder:
- What do the actions of Zacchaeus reveal about the power of God to change hearts?
- Given this passage, what is the best way for you to pray today?
End with Posture of Silence and Solitude (2 minutes)
