“And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Excerpt, Gospel Reading, Tuesday 19th Nov. 2024 – LUKE 19:1-10.
So, today’s teaching is a typical exemplification of how God is more persuaded by our deliberate positive efforts to become better.
If Christ would perceive, then, acknowledge the efforts of Zacchaeus, though, sinful as he was, and yet offered to be a guest at his house, then, we, too, our own deliberate efforts are certainly not unnoticed.
Dear friend, though, we live and exist in a sinful world, where vulgarity as well as slothful, immoral and disingenuous acts have become conventional, nevertheless, when we strive to live above board, God takes notice of us.
God spoke proudly of Job because he lived uprightly in a dysfunctional world. God was also merciful to Lot and his family because they dared to live differently amidst a corrupt people.
And in today’ teaching, though, Zacchaeus while still steeped in his cheating ways, he made a deliberate positive effort to by climbing a tree to have a fleeting glance of that much talked about itinerant Rabbi.
That effort, my dear friend, was noticed by God and l it changed his life forever.
Dear friend, we, too, God is seeing us as in our daily lives we take steps to positively change our ways. We should never give up, we must persist.
Remember, God is more persuaded by our deliberate positive efforts to become better.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
– Akase F. Agabo
19th Nov. 2024.