Skip to main content
Old building with water trough, Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina. Photo by Charles F. Stanley.
Daily Devotion

What We’ve Been Looking For

Jesus came to seek and save the lost, bringing life to those who put their trust in Him.

Luke 19:1-10

Zaccheus was a chief tax collector for the Roman government. His profession caused him to be despised by his fellow Jews. That’s why the crowd grumbled when Jesus sought him out and asked to visit his home. But the Lord responded, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The word lost is key. Jesus was using it as a description of longing. To be lost is to be separated from where you belong, unable to find the way back on your own. It speaks of spiritual deadness (Eph. 2:1) and a blindness to God’s truth (2 Cor. 4:3-4)—two things that mark the human condition (Rom. 5:12).

Zaccheus knew something was missing in his life. That’s likely why he climbed a tree just to catch a glimpse of Jesus. After all, it wasn’t exactly dignified behavior for a man of his social standing. But Jesus saw him, called him by name, and came to him. That’s what seeking looks like: We move toward the Savior and He moves toward us.

What changed everything for Zaccheus wasn’t his profession or his reputation—it was an encounter with Christ. And like Zaccheus, when we trust in the Savior, we’re no longer searching, longing for something beyond ourselves. Rather, we are made spiritually alive.

Bible in One Year: John 17-19