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Luke 19:8

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."

How do you know if someone is really saved or not?
One way to tell is if their life has changed.
I remember as a little kid, sitting in church with my family, and my uncle, who was a big time alcoholic, went forward and prayed the sinner's prayer. I remember listening, as the pastor would talk to each person after they had made that decision and the conversation was heard by all because they used a microphone.
The question was asked of my uncle, "What are you going to do now?"
His reply was, "I'm gonna go have a beer."
People laughed, but as I think about it even now, it wasn't funny, because it showed that he did not have a change of heart. In fact, his life never did change at all. He never continued going to church and continued on with his heavy drinking.

Here in today's devotional verse, Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Tax collectors were known for stealing from the people, and by doing so they were well off financially. But Zacchaeus had a changed heart because he met Jesus, and Jesus' response to this changed heart was.

Luke 19:9-10 9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Zacchaeus' changed heart was seen in the new life he was now living.
This doesn't mean that Zacchaeus stopped everything he had been doing wrong, but he was on the right track and the change in his life was evident, most importantly to Jesus.

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