A Modern-Day Zacchaeus

 "But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.'' Luke 19:8

    Perhaps you recall the story of Zacchaeus, a very wealthy chief tax collector of short stature who wanted to see who Jesus was so, when the Lord was passing through his town, Zacchaeus climbed into a sycamore tree to improve his view. When Jesus passed beneath him, He called the tree climber by name and invited Himself over to his house, which caused murmuring throughout the crowd at the thought of Jesus going to the home of a "sinner." But, after the tax collector gladly welcomed Jesus, he repented and sought to make things right. According to Jesus, this brought salvation to his house (Luke 19:10).

    Recently, I had the honor of chatting with a modern-day Zacchaeus, Michael Zuren. Mr. Zuren is the treasurer of Lake County. When he had taken the job, he noticed an account on the books with a great deal of money therein, so he inquired about it. He was told the money came from overpayments of property taxes spanning a period of twenty-three years. When a property is sold, sometimes two parties both pay the taxes inadvertently so, when this happened, the funds were deposited into this account.

    The way I see it, Mr. Zuren at that point had two options: He could have accepted that as the way it had been done for years, so why change it now? That would have been the easier choice. But, since he is a Christian, he chose to make things right. Mr. Zuren has made it a priority to research property tax overpayments and is committed to returning these funds to their rightful owners.

    Godly integrity is a tall order, but when the choice for restitution is made, there will be no shortage of blessings that follow. During these days of great corruption, I am grateful for Michael Zuren, a man who has gladly welcomed Jesus into his life and has put his faith into action. 

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13