From the Trash Heap

After Deb Kirby washed her hands at her Attleboro, Massachusetts home one day last week, she took off her rings and wrapped them in a paper towel to let them dry. A little later she was cleaning up the area and inadvertently threw away the folded paper towel that contained her rings, including her engagement and wedding bands.

She took out the trash and it was soon picked up by a garbage truck from the city's trash collection company, Waste Management.

Later, when she realized what she had done, she frantically called Waste Management. The company had the truck that picked up her garbage unload at a transfer station. Kirby and some of the employees dug through heaps of stinking garbage to find her five valuable rings. She knew that the rings were in a black garbage bag with a blue drawstring. In just 30 minutes, the bag – and the rings! – were found. *

One day Jesus was passing through the city of Jericho (see Luke 19). His presence attracted a crowd.....

There was a man who wanted to see Jesus, but he was having difficulty because of the crowds – because he was short in stature. His name was Zacchaeus. He wanted to see Jesus so badly that he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see over the crowd. When Jesus reached the place where Zacchaeus was in the tree, He looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today" (v. 5). Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed him gladly. The people of Jericho saw this and began to mutter, "Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner" (v. 7).

Zacchaeus was one of the most hated and despised people of Jericho because he was a tax collector. He was viewed by many in Palestine as a traitor because he collected taxes for the Roman government. Many tax collectors grew very rich by “charging extra” while collecting taxes and lining their own pockets.

According to most people in the land, tax collectors like Zacchaeus belonged on the trash heap. But Jesus had good news for Zacchaeus: "Today salvation has come to this house, … for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (vs. 9-10).

That’s Good News for ALL of us! When we were on the trash heap of sin and headed for eternal destruction, Jesus came looking for us. His search and rescue mission is an indication of His great love for us, not our intrinsic value. In fact, it is His love that makes us valuable to Him. He loves us so much that He gave His life for us to save us from sin and sin’s punishment (John 3:16).

If we will place our faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38), He will save us from sin and give us the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).

Deb Kirby says she's "extremely grateful and so very impressed" by Waste Management and its employees who helped her to find her lost valuables.

We should also be “extremely grateful and so very impressed” by the love that Jesus had for us to leave heaven and come to find us and save us from eternal destruction.

Won’t YOU accept His offer of salvation and eternal life?

David A. Sargent, Minister