"Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in (great) excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. 'He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner, 'they grumbled.' Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, 'I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!' Jesus responded, 'Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."
As I read this the Holy Spirit showed me a few key things that opened my heart for growth. First it said, "...Zacchaeus took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy." No matter what he did in the past or how he treated people his belief in Jesus made him excited. As believers this should be how we act daily in all circumstances because we know Him. Secondly, He said, 'I will give half my wealth to the poor.' He took a worldly desire and let it go. He realized that knowing Jesus was filling the gap in his life that he thought money would do. We need to let the excitement of knowing Him fill us so that our focus is on spiritual things and not worldly things. Lastly, Zacchaeus offers to give back four times as much as he took to everyone he cheated. That is the final release of the hold the world had on him, and his desire was now to share and serve the Lord.
We don't get the rest of the story about Zacchaeus but we get what Jesus says in verse 9, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham." Zacchaeus's heart opened and he didn't care about his wealth or life, he cared about Jesus. What are we holding onto that is keeping us from truly being excited and not caring about our vises? He released his greed and gave; that's what Jesus asks of us to be His disciples.
Matthew chapter 16 verse 24 says, "Then Jesus said to His disciples. 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me." Zacchaeus at that moment gave up his selfish ways, and he had excitement and joy. He could have done nothing and enjoyed that Jesus was at his house, but he from his heart, started telling Jesus what he was going to do. This was not a request from Jesus, but Zacchaeus desired to let go and his love moved him to action. Verse 25 says, "If you try to hang onto your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it." As we grow in our relationship and we seek wisdom our lives begin to change, and this co-laboring with God is what moves us and gives us the strength to take up our cross daily.
It can't be by our own strength or we will get tired and it won't be just God making us change. He gave us the key but we still need to turn it to unlock the door. The word tells us to take up our cross, not that God will take it up for us. We need to release the things that keep us focused on the world and let the Spirit guide us to live in the fruit of the Spirit focused on Jesus and love. Amen