Good Monday Morning, Dear Friends,
One of the great verses in all Scripture is found in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” When our granddaughter Fiona was little, she would stay with us on Thursdays and Fridays to go to Preschool. She loved to play hide-and-seek with me, although she would call it, “Come find me.” It became one of our favorite things to do. I would count to ten, she would go hide, and I would come find her, then she would count to ten, I would go hide, and she would come to find me. If she couldn’t find me, I would start making cat noises and go, “Meow,” because I wanted her to find me. Fiona, for her part, if I couldn’t find her, would start giggling until I would finally find her. Because the goal of hide-and-seek is you want to be found eventually, don’t you?
Luke, chapter 19, tells us that Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost, and that same chapter tells us of someone who wanted to be found. His name was Zacchaeus. When he was found by Jesus, Zacchaeus said to him, “Look, Lord, I will give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I am going to make amends by giving them back four times what I have swindled out of them.”
The man whose primary focus in life was money and power responds to Jesus’ invitation by saying yes to him — and that changed him from the inside. It changed his heart. He found what he was looking for, and he began to be generous. He began to look for the people who needed help, and he immediately responded — by giving half of what he had and by giving back to other people.
Here’s the impact when we are found by Jesus. Authentic faith in Jesus produces these three things: It produces compassion, kindness, and generosity toward others.
Are you growing in compassion, in kindness, and in generosity toward others? This is what it means to have been found by Jesus, because here’s what I know happened to Zacchaeus. When he accepted Jesus’ invitation and came back to God, Zacchaeus found what he had been looking for.
May your life be a reflection of God’s love for others,
Bruce Jones, Pastor
Imagine Church
