Devotional--Money, Part IV

***Update--I've been trying to find ways to publish the past 3.5 years worth of devotionals so that they are accessible for those who are interested in them. The good news is that I think I can self-publish them on Amazon--meaning that for $0.99 you would be able to download the previous 3.5 years worth of devotionals to your Kindle, iPhone, iPad, i-whatever, etc. If the formatting works, it would have an active table of contents, so you could click on a certain book of the Bible and be taken to the beginning of that chapter. I'll let you know when/if that becomes reality, but hopefully it will be within the next week.***

Luke 19:1-10

19He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ 6So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ 8Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ 9Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’
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Yesterday, we touched on the idea that money itself isn't bad, that it's just a tool, albeit a very powerful one. I'd like to continue that idea today--it's easy to fall into the fallacy that, in order to follow Jesus faithfully, we have to give away all our money. In fact, tomorrow I'm preaching on the story from Luke 18 when Jesus tells the rich young ruler exactly that.

But here, in Luke 19, we have the story of Zaccheus, a man who was 'very rich.' When Jesus goes to his house, Zaccheus is converted, and as a result of his conversion he decides to give away half his money and pay back those whom he may have defrauded.

Do you know what half of very rich is? Look at it this way--if Warren Buffet called you and offered you half his fortune, what would you say?

The important thing about Zaccheus' conversion is that his heart has changed--he now calls Jesus his Savior. As a result of this, he recognizes that he has a lot of money, and that this is a tremendous opportunity to help others. The giving of money is a fruit of his conversion, not the other way around. The giving reveals how much his heart has changed, for he recognizes the importance of giving, rather than amassing more and more.

Perhaps there are cases where people need to give everything away. I believe that in most cases, we have to give all of our hearts, and then the Spirit will guide us in our financial giving, that our giving may be a small part of the evidence, of the fruit, of our faith.

Blessings