“8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” “
“For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
In Christian circles, one could say the phrase “the accuser of the brethren” and most everyone would instantly go to Satan himself. And everyone would be right on target. Revelation tells us that Satan has been accusing us day and night before God. I can almost picture him as a little brat kid who would like nothing more than to get his older brother or sister in trouble. It is not like the older brother or sister can just get rid of the younger bratty sibling, they have to endure it most often.
As Christians, we often see people in our lives doing some not-so-holy things. We pray for them and talk to them about making smarter choices and hope they turn from their ways. How many times does Jesus turn to someone in the gospels and point out their sin? That would be a good study. I can guess that he does not do that much, if at all. Why? Well, the story of Zacchaeus gives us a little hint into the power of God.
Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, so he climbed a tree to see over the crowd. I doubt he was thinking, “I hope Jesus points out my sins.” No, Jesus would not do that at all, but the people did. In verse 7 it says that the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” In this case, the people were the accuser of the brethren. Jesus simply showed up at his house and Zacchaeus, on his own account, confessed his sins and wanted to right them.
It was the power of God that drove Zacchaeus to repent, not the people pointing out his sinful ways. The power of God can do more to clean someone up than all the accusing from Christians. Satan does a pretty good job being the accuser, and when we fall into that role of accusing the people around us of sin, we should not be too surprised when our efforts seem to have no effect.
Jesus showed up and sin left, end of the story. We should do the same, show up with Jesus, and sin has to leave. In fact, sin has no place with the Lord. We are described as a light unto a path, and when that light gets turned on, darkness flees. Have you turned on the light yet? Or are you still accusing the people in your life from the darkness? Turn the light of Christ on in your life and watch sin retreat just like darkness when you turn on a light. When we show the world Jesus, sin has to leave. Today, start showing people how much Jesus loves them and watch the sin leave their lives, just like when you turn on a light and the darkness flees. Do not take on the accuser role, rather show them Jesus.
Prayer: Father, how great and mighty are you, and how wonderful are your ways. I pray that I show everyone how much Jesus loves them, and I know the sin will leave. Darkness has no place with the light. I pray that we are all light to everyone around us, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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