Bible Verse of the Day Monday August 28th, 2023

Luke 19:9-10 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.”

This verse is part of a verse of scripture where Jesus is visiting the home of a Roman tax collector named Zacchaeus. Jesus told him that salvation would come to your life on this day. Jesus received some bad vibes from the so-called religious people when they realized he had come to the home of a tax collector to share a meal. Jesus ignored the negative vibes and let God work in this man's life. We do not hear Jesus preaching a sermon; however, we do see God working in the life of Zacchaeus. Jesus celebrated with him and welcomed him into the Kingdom family. Jesus comes out and says, guess what? This guy got saved, so let's celebrate with him as one of ours. Jesus was reinforcing what He came to do, and that was to seek and save the lost.

His fellow townspeople must have despised Zacchaeus. They hated paying taxes to Rome, and they felt that Zacchaeus, a fellow Jew, had betrayed them, had sold out to Rome, and had gotten rich at their expense. So, they rejected him, shunned him, detested him. If you had conducted a popularity contest in Jericho that day Zacchaeus may have come dead last. Zacchaeus had a personal encounter with Christ Jesus, his life was changed forever when he met Jesus. Imagine what Zacchaeus must have thought: “He sees me. He knows me. He knows my name. He knows all about me. But He is calling for me! And He wants to be with me!” When Zacchaeus had this personal encounter with Jesus, he opened his house to receive Jesus. But much more important, he opened his heart to receive Jesus.

The greatest thing that can ever happen is having a personal encounter with Christ Jesus! To come to the point where we can say: "He sees me. He knows me. He's calling for me! He wants to be with me!" If we were to think about it for a moment, we could think of many in our lives who need that special saving touch from God. Most people who do not know Jesus as their lord and savior do not like the term "lost"; however, that is the very thing Jesus came to earth to do. The last few words in today's verse teach us that very truth. They are outside of the family. They have wandered away, Jesus says; I came to bring them back to the fold. How can we get the fresh starts we need in life? Zacchaeus shows us what to do. First, we must push to get closer to Jesus, then joyfully receive the Lord and keep resting in the grace of God. Let Christ Jesus give us a fresh start today.