Weekly Message 
                    SALVATION FOR ZACCHEUS

And Jesus said unto him (Zaccheus), This day is salvation come to this house....  (Luke 19:8a)

If you were to ask a youth what he/she would like to be when they grew up, many would respond that  they would like to be "rich."   Few would say that they would like to be "saved."  The world has tremendous influence over us and we struggle to stay focused on what is really important.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with being rich (financially) as long as wealth is acquired the right way, and is used appropriately.  But riches should never take  precedence over "Salvation."

In the passage above, Zaccheus was a Jewish tax collector who became rich by over-taxing his own people.  He gave the Roman empire its percentage and then kept the rest for himself.  His cheating the tax payers made him financially wealthy.  After a while Zaccheus felt ashamed and empty from what he had been doing.  His riches could not satisfy that emptiness.  He heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho and he wanted to get a glimpse of him.  Zaccheus was short in statue and needed to climb a tree in order to see Jesus.  When Jesus passed the tree where he was situated, Jesus told him to come down because He would be at his house that day.  Zaccheus was astounded that Jesus knew his name.  Zaccheus not only came down to Jesus, but he pledged to give one-half of his goods to the poor, and to restore  

four-fold to those he may have made false accusations to.

As an added gift, salvation not only came to Zaccheus, but to his household as well.  All of us should desire to meet Jesus for ourselves and to see that those close to us meet Him also.  No matter how much wealth we may acquire, we can never put a price on the value of "Salvation."