Making an Eternal Difference

“And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.” Luke 19:5-6 (ESV)

You have a choice. You can be a thermostat and set the environment or you can be a thermometer and reflect the environment. Jesus chose to be a thermostat. Jesus leveraged His influence to transform Zacchaeus and his family. Jesus was intentional about bringing life-change to this chief tax collector and his family.

The people criticized Jesus for His actions. We are introduced to this concept of muttering and grumbling in the Old Testament as the children of Israel grumbled against God, Moses, and Aaron (Exod. 16:6-8). Jesus was willing to be misunderstood and criticized in order to bring eternal life to Zacchaeus and his family. Jesus was willing to endure opposition to present this family with the opportunity to be transformed by His love.

Will you influence your environment or be influenced by your environment? Will you become like those around you or will they become like you? It depends upon your decision to be a thermostat or a thermometer. God has placed you here to be salt and light to influence this decaying and dark world with the purity and the light of His love (Matt. 5:13-16). God has planted you right where you are so that you can bloom for His glory and bring others into the kingdom of light.

Are you willing to be criticized for loving the unlovable? Are you willing to be misunderstood for extending grace to the despised and forgotten? You have the gift of eternal life and the power of the Holy Spirit operative within you. Be a thermostat for the glory of God!

Drawing Near,

Stephen Trammell
Lead Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell