We thank God for yet another day filled with His grace, compassion and love. I’m not so sure what’s going on in your life at the moment but one thing I’m sure of is that the steadfast love that the Lord has for you hasn’t ceased neither has His mercy come to an end.
A new day brings a fresh supply of steadfast love and mercy to you. Open up your heart to receive this daily supply from your Heavenly Father, who loves you beyond your wildest dreams.
In my previous post, we started the Beneath the Veil series by looking at how Jesus revealed God’s heart to us. He showed us that more than anything else, God wants us to know Him on a heart to heart level. This means He wants us to get to the place where we are never in doubt about His character of love, goodness and kindness. In case you missed the first part, you can check it out.
We’ll continue our journey today by looking at Jesus’ remedy for sin. I always like to look at God through the lens of the earthly life of Jesus. We can be confident that how Jesus responded in any given situation is exactly how the Father does. So in Jesus, the darkness and misconceptions surrounding the true nature of God are permanently resolved.
During the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, one of the unholiest of professions one could be in was to be a tax collector. They were seen as traitors who used dubious means to collect the hard earned wages of even the poor. Thus, they became richer at the expense of those around them.
Now that we are culturally on the same page as the Bible days, let us consider an encounter that Jesus had with arguably the most famous among the tax collectors. He was smart, determined and short in stature. Yes, your guess is as good as mine – it’s the man Zaccheus.
Jesus met him under the unlikeliest of circumstances but the Prince of Peace singled him out from the multitude, and offered him a gesture of friendship by dining at his house.
What association has The Light of the World with darkness?
And how can Light and darkness recline at the same table to feast?
This gesture proved to be the turning point in the life of Zaccheus. He had heard about the mighty works of this Rabbi and how He taught with great authority. But on that very day, he experienced a love that he couldn’t fathom. It was so genuine and pure; it was simply out – of – this – world.
His heart burned within him but he did his best to keep his composure while at the table. Each word from the lips of Jesus felt like a sweet breeze that drew him closer and closer to the shores of righteousness, peace and joy. From there, the hills of guilt, condemnation and shame were out of sight.
At that, composure gave him up and almost involuntarily, he rose to his feet and said to Jesus “Rabbi, I’ll give all that I’ve stolen from the people back to them and I’ll even add interest.”
Oh what can turn the sinner pure inside out,
And crown the shunned with an ageless crown
Jesus is perfect in all His ways. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot stand against it. The Light shone in the darkest part of the heart of this tax collector and the then traitor of the state became its helper.
This confirms the letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans saying “the goodness of God leads men to repentance.” Zaccheus wasn’t alone in this life changing encounter, he had some good company- we can talk of the woman caught in adultery, the Samaritan woman, the woman who broke the alabaster box among others.
Are you struggling with sin in your life? Or do you know a loved one who seems to be lost in sin? Friend, the answer is in the revelation of the Person of Jesus. Allow Jesus to reveal Himself to you…or better still, reintroduce Himself as the lover of your soul. He gave His all, that you may have it all. Turn on this light and sin will lose its sting.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Restpiration 