Helping Someone "Get it"!

Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”  Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”   Luke 19:8-10 (NLT2)

I was introduced to a young college student a few weeks ago.   The person who introduced us said she seemed very excited to be in church and was asking a lot of questions about God and eternity.   Over the past two weeks their conversations continued and yesterday a meeting was arranged for me to answer some of those questions.   After she asked a couple of questions she shared that she was afraid of what would happen to her after she died.   So I asked her a question.  I asked, "Have you ever come to a place where you know for certain that you have eternal life and that you will go to heaven when you die?"    Her eyes opened wide and she said, "No, I haven't". 

I spent the next few minutes sharing things I know had been covered in her conversations with others in the church over the past few weeks.   Then as I was sharing with her that God loved her so much that He sent Jesus to die for her sin so that nothing could keep her from being one with Him, she started to cry.  She turned to the woman of God who had faithfully answered her questions over the past two weeks and said, "I get it!  I get it!"  

In that moment, we were looking into the face of Zacchaeus!  What Jesus saw in his face is what we were seeing in hers.   I knew in that moment what Jesus knew, His purpose was validated by the response of someone who "got it".   Even now as I'm writing this, I'm realizing for the first time the reason Jesus responded the way He did.  After meeting so many who came to Him for healing, which was an important part of His earthly ministry, He now had someone who benefitted from His eternal ministry.   While there was great joy in Zacchaeus' response to Jesus their is also great joy in Jesus' response to the one who was lost but now was saved!

As we continue to minister to the earthly needs of the people around us, let us like Christ, always be looking for the one who is seeking more from God.   If we continue to do this, it is only a matter of time before we are given the opportunity to minister to someone's eternal need for Jesus and find ourselves looking into the eyes of someone who finally "gets it!"