What Are You Going to Do?Sýnishorn

What are you going to do with Jesus?

“He didn’t care how foolish he looked, so long as he could catch just one glimpse of the Lord.”

In 1922, Everett Swanson heard his pastor tell the story of Zaccheus, a first century tax-collector in a town called Jericho, who wanted to see Jesus so badly that he climbed up in a tree. Two thousand years hasn’t changed how people feel about tax collectors. Zaccheus was not liked, not admired, and not welcomed anywhere.

Luke chapter 19 gives us only one physical descriptor of Zaccheus: he was “of short stature.” Nine-year-old Everett suddenly became more interested in a Sunday morning sermon than he ever had been before. Barely able to see over the heads of the people in the pews in front of him, Everett suddenly found a biblical character he could relate to.

“Zaccheus didn’t care how foolish he looked,” the pastor continued, “so long as he could catch just one glimpse of the Lord!” He read again from Luke. “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.”

Saying “Yes!” to Jesus turned Zaccheus—a man with money but no joy—into a man with joy…and Jesus! The pastor asked a question. “Is there anyone here who wants to see Jesus and be seen by Him? Do you want to welcome Him into your life?” Everett’s hand shot up.

The future founder of Compassion International, a world-wide child advocacy ministry, never forgot that Sunday morning service or the story of a man whose life was changed when Jesus came into it. “The moment I opened my heart’s door to Jesus Christ,” Everett Swanson later wrote, “I had a new responsibility to God to whom I now felt morally accountable; to Jesus Christ, for He redeemed me with His precious blood; to the Holy Spirit who convicted and regenerated me; and to my fellow men everywhere for Christ had said, ‘Ye are my witnesses, Go ye.’”

YOUR TURN

Throughout this series, we’ll be asking the question, “What are you going to do?” The most important question of all is this one: What are you going to do with Jesus? God says that every person sins and needs His salvation. Jesus died to bridge the uncrossable gap between you and God, offering the gift of eternal life to those who believe in Him. You can receive this gift by trusting Jesus as your Savior, acknowledging His sacrifice for your sins, and accepting His offer of everlasting life through faith.

• Do you have a favorite Bible story or character that you feel a deep connection with? Who (or what story) is it, and why do you feel that connection?