Luke 19:8
And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
There is a common notion afoot these days that salvation can be gained without discipleship. According to such a notion, all you need do is “Ask Jesus into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior” and you’re in. God has to save you now, no matter what. Of course, you should think about following Jesus as well having some sort of Pickwickian odorless, tasteless, content-free, consequence-free “trust” in Him. But, according to this scenario, should you not really want to bother with that, it’s not too much trouble. Zacchaeus (of whom Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham”) emphatically rejected this turnip-ghost faith and put very solid legs on his faith in Christ. He did so, not to earn his salvation, but to incarnate his love for Jesus. ‘Twas ever thus. That’s why St. Paul said that the goal of the Christian life was “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5). Today, put legs on your faith as Zacchaeus did.
