Ellocin's Journal

I need to write something here because it is something that is really been weighing on me lately.  It's about judgement...particularly judgement of other people.  I know I'm human but I know as a Christian I am not to judge people.  I struggle with this on a daily basis.   I grew up being told not to associate with certain people, or hearing about the faults and imperfections of others, and I find now that within a matter of seconds of seeing someone I am passing my own judgements of people...albiet silently in my head.  But this judgement holds me back from getting to know people who might otherwise be great people and it definitely keeps me from sharing Christ's love with them.  I'm a very critical and judgemental person and it's something that really bothers me and I pray that God will work on my heart and take that from me.

That brings me to a devotional I received in my email today.  It's exactly on this topic and I'm going to share it with you.  Aren't you lucky....  It's from www.notreligion.com.

And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." (Luke 19:7, ESV) 

Let's talk about judgment for a moment. I know, everyone says, "Oh, I hate it when people judge other people."

But you've done it. You've looked at someone and made certain decisions about them. Maybe it was, "I think I'd want that person for a friend." Or perhaps it was a little harsh like, "I'd never want to be around that guy!" Maybe it sounded more like, "I'm not sharing Christ with her; look at her, you can tell she doesn't want to hear it." 

That's what's going on in today's scripture. The people knew Zacchaeus and they judged him as a jerk, a cheat and a traitor. He was a Jew who worked for the Roman tax-collecting system. Tax collectors (or publicans) often collected more than the actual tax. Zacchaeus had bought into this system, turning against his own people while making a nice cushy living for himself. So the people hated Zacchaeus. 

When Jesus came to town, there were crowds of people around Him as always. But Jesus spotted Zacchaeus and picked him out of the crowd, called him by name and said, "I must stay at your house today." (Luke 19:5, ESV).

This made the people furious and probably a little confused too. Luke 19:7 says that the crowds were displeased and they grumbled because Jesus was going to be the guest of a notorious sinner. They all knew what Zacchaeus was like. I'm sure, at that point, some of them thought they were a better judge of character than Jesus.  

But Jesus saw beyond that. He not only saw who Zacchaeus was, but who he would become. Jesus told the crowds, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10, ESV).  

Instead of the judgment of man, Zacchaeus experienced the love of Jesus that day and it changed his life. 

Who is the person (or people) about whom you've been telling Jesus He's wrong? Maybe you need to change your thinking--God's not gonna change His.

 ~~~~~

I don't know about you but that was exactly what I needed to read today and I thank God for putting that in my inbox today.