Definition of Honesty – Honor; honorableness; dignity; propriety; suitableness; decency.

Clossians 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

Caleb and I were reading about Zacchaeus the other night. You know…the wee little man who climbed up in a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Well, he was not an Honest man.  Zacchaeus was a tax collector who took from people.  Money, that is.  Money that didn’t belong to him. Zacchaeus had no friends because he was stealing from people.  His heart was not good, and he needed Jesus to fix it.  Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the tree and he asked him to come down. Jesus wanted to be his friend.

Jesus knew all about Zacchaeus’ bad heart and he wanted to give him a clean heart. Zacchaeus was sorry for all the wrong things he had done and asked Jesus to forgive him. Zacchaeus got a new, clean heart and wanted to do the right thing in returning all the money to the people he stole from.  He felt different in a good way.  Zacchaeus felt like a new person!  All because Jesus loved him.

Jesus loves you too, and he can give you a clean heart if you confess your wrong-doing to him.

Zacchaeus didn’t have many friends because he didn’t tell the truth.  God wants us to always tell the truth and not be sneaky.

I tell Caleb every day – isn’t it nice to know that God’s mercies are new every morning!  God’s grace is sufficient enough for all of us.  How wonderful!

This would be a fun thing to do with your child after reading about Zacchaeus.

Get a coffee filter or paper towel, some bleach, and some dark food coloring.  Cut a heart shape from a coffee filter (or the paper towel).  Explain to the child that this heart is like our heart.  Put dark food coloring in a container.  Explain to the child that when we tell a lie we are sinning and it puts a spot on our heart.  Put small drops of the dark colored water on the paper.  Now explain that when our heart is full of wrong things we’ve done, Jesus is like this special water.  He can forgive us and make our heart clean again.  Now put a drop of bleach on the dark spots and watch them disappear!  I love this!  I hope you do as well.

Blessings,

Melissa

Author of – I Love You to the Moon