Eyes Wide Open: 41-Day Lenten Devotional Sample

Loving the Unloveable

“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’… All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’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.’” - Luke 19:5-10

Jesus spent his earthly ministry fraternizing with some of societies greatest outcasts. The poor, the widows, young children, and even, as we see in this story, tax collectors. Zacchaeus, by virtue of his job title, was probably one of the most disliked members of his Jewish community. He worked for the Roman government and—as most tax collectors did—likely swindled many a family out of money that rightfully belonged to them.

And when Jesus saw Zacchaeus, we know he saw all of this. The cheating, the lying, the stealing, and all the lavish living that came with it. But still, our Savior called this man out of a whole crowd of people and invited himself into Zacchaeus’ life. As an act of faithful obedience and response to Jesus’ teaching, we see him changing his life to reflect ideals of honesty and generosity. 

We serve a God who came to seek and broken people—the least of these living in our world. He cares about the materially and spiritually poor—even men and women like Zacchaeus who’ve centered their lives around the pursuit of success or the amassing of personal wealth haven’t fallen off his radar. Our God loves the unlovable; in response, those who claim to follow him should learn to as well.

Prayer: Lord, help me to love lost people like you do. Let my heart be broken for those who do not know you and allow me to respond by sharing your message of grace and redemption wherever I go. Amen.