An Honest and Good Heart

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 8
It is plainly the language of a benevolent and conscientious heart without the knowledge of salvation, which the Lord brought that day to Zacchaeus' house. The tone of Zacchaeus is as different as possible from that of the self-righteous Pharisee who "stood and prayed... with himself" (chap. 18:11, 12). Here was the case of a man who was truly in earnest. Neither his diminutive stature nor the crowd around the Lord hindered him. Would that we might see many as truly in earnest as the blind beggar and Zacchaeus! The Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, called His own sheep by name; He said, "Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house."
Zacchaeus tells the Lord what had been the habitual practice of "an honest and good heart," which had yearned after better things; but still, however blessed it is to see human righteousness where it exists, there was no recognition of this when it was the question of bringing salvation to him—"This day is salvation come to this house... for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."