The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Luke 19:1 And He entered and was passing through Jericho.

2 And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich.

3 And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.

4 And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.

5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

6 And he hurried and came down, and received Him gladly.

7 And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

8 And Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.

10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Fault-finders are everywhere! With some people, there is no such thing as “doing right.” They simply cannot be pleased with anything. Give them a cold drink of water on a blisteringly hot day, and they look at you as if you had a “hidden meaning” in it. They don’t trust anyone about anything at anytime. They grumbled at being born, and they will likely grumble in their graves. Know anyone like that? Who’s kidding who?

The multitudes liked Jesus. It was He whom they had come to see. Zaccheus, being short of stature, climbed up a tree for a clear view of the One who was to pass that way. The people despised Zaccheus. He was a tax-collector, the lowest on the employment scale in the minds of the people. You would think that they would be hopeful that Jesus could do something to straighten Zaccheus out, but some probably grumbled at his even being there.

Our culture today has developed grumbleitis. We don’t like our political leaders. We don’t like our spiritual leaders. We don’t like our academicians. We don’t even really like ourselves. It’s a grumble, grumble culture. We get upset over the least of things –things that are truly none of our business. A friend and I went into business some years ago. A banker we did not previously know lended us thousands of dollars just on our names. But, an out-of-state company with whom we were dealing kept dragging their feet on delivering what they had promised. I became truly argry! It was proof that I myself was not immune from grumbling.

Grumbling affects us more severly than we might think. It affects our digestive system, our ability to think clearly on other things; it causes the best of friends to withdraw from us because we never have anything pleasant about which to think or talk. Jesus did not allow the people’s grumbling affect Him in the least. He accepted Zaccheus’ invitation to dinner and led him to faith that turned his life completely around. The next time you’re tempted to “blow your top” over something, just relax and know that there is a better way. Jesus is still in the business of turning things around; and the worst of the worst can be brought to faith in Him!

Prayer is our weapon against grumbling. We love you and pray for you daily.

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”