Friday, November 16, 2007
How Jesus Meets the Deepest Longings of Your Heart
Dr. Jack Graham
More than likely, you've heard the story out of the New Testament of the chief tax collector, a man named Zacchaeus.
As I have read his story over and over, I have come to realize that Zacchaeus' story is everyone's story-including yours and mine.
As you read his story, you come to realize that Zacchaeus illustrates the four basic weaknesses and needs of every human heart: the feeling of emptiness, the feeling of loneliness, the weight of guilt, and the fear of death.
There really are some great life-lessons you and I can learn as we look at this man. Let's pick up his story in Luke 19:1-9:
Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner." Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Zacchaeus was a wealthy man in his day, but he was empty inside. His story is a great reminder that it doesn't matter how well off you are financially or physically, there is a need deep within every human heart to be filled with something that will last...something that will fill that emptiness we feel in souls.
Friend, you and I were made to know God, to love God, to experience grace, and to know true, saving faith in Him.
It doesn't matter how much money you have...how much status you achieve...or how many things you have. You need God because you were made to know Him...just like Zacchaeus was.
But Zacchaeus had another problem. He was lonely. He was a Jew working for the Romans to collect taxes, one of the most hated professions of that day.
He was skimming off the top, swindling and scandalizing his friends. Zacchaeus was a man who seemingly had no conscience-and no friends. He was an outcast of society!
As a result, he was a very lonely man...just like so many people today. We were made to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, so we naturally feel lonely without Him. And this is how Zacchaeus felt.
Along with that loneliness, Zacchaeus carried around a huge weight of guilt...a feeling everyone experiences.
Some people try to numb the pain of guilt with excessive alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, or unhealthy relationships.
But no matter how you try to hide it...no matter how far you may try to run, you will never be able to dissolve that sense of guilt apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Finally, just like anyone who doesn't have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, Zacchaeus was afraid to die. And while most people don't admit this fact, it's true.
Even though many considered Zacchaeus a waste case, Jesus knew that he was empty and lonely...Jesus knew that he felt guilty...and Jesus knew that he was afraid to die. And that's why Jesus stopped!
I don't know where you may be in life today, my friend. Maybe you can relate to one or more of Zacchaeus' weaknesses.
Whatever your station may be today...good, bad, rich or poor...I hope you have come to realize all that God is offering you through Jesus Christ...the Friend of the wounded heart.
Because through Jesus you can indeed know fullness for your emptiness, forgiveness for your guilt, and intimacy with God for your loneliness. And through Him you have the ultimate victory, the victory over death.
