One of the central tensions of the Christian life is reconciling unmerited salvation and earning our repentance. How can grace be completely free—given despite our sin—while we are also called to actively love others as Christ has loved us? Through the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector, Scripture reveals how these two truths coexist: we receive salvation as a free gift, yet we also embrace the cost of repentance for the sake of love. The good news of the Gospel is that salvation and love are utterly free. This marks the beginning of our redemptive love story with the Father and compels us to pay it forward by loving others in return. ------ Scripture: Luke 19:1-10 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 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.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”