Cheaters and Ex-Cheaters

Billy’s daddy was sitting at the kitchen table. There were papers everywhere and a big adding machine. He had been there all morning.

Billy wanted his dad to put on the big catcher’s mitt and catch the new curve ball that Billy had learned at school that week. But Daddy just shook his head and sighed every time that Billy asked.

“Daddy,” Billy said, as he whacked his ball into his baseball glove, “what are you doing?”

“I’m doing taxes,” his Dad replied. “The government requires me to pay them a certain amount of money from all the money I get. It takes a while to figure it all out.”

“Do you have to tell them about all the money?”

Billy’s Daddy stopped writing on a paper and looked at him. In a very serious, quiet voice, he said, “Yes, Billy.”

It was very quiet in the kitchen for a little while. Then Billy’s Dad began to tell the story of Zaccheus. Billy had always thought of Zaccheus as “a wee little man.” In fact, he had rather liked the idea of a man being as short as he was.

“Zaccheus was a cheater,” Daddy said. “He didn’t tell the truth. He made people pay more than they should on their taxes. Then he kept the extra money.

“I used to be a cheater, too,” Daddy said. “I didn’t care if the government got their fair share or not.” He paused and looked Billy right in the eye. “Can you guess when I changed?”

Billy knew the answer to that. “When you got saved,” he said.

“That’s right,” Daddy replied. “Then I had a lot of fixing up to do.” He stopped for a moment, remembering. Then he continued, “I met with some men from the government and confessed what I had done. I agreed to a plan to pay the money that I had cheated from the government.

“This is what Zaccheus did, too,” Daddy said. “He told Jesus that if he had taken anything from any man by cheating him, that he would give back four times as much. Also, he gave half of everything that he had to poor folks, who had nothing. Then Jesus said to him, ‘This day is salvation come to this house.’

“Billy,” Daddy continued, “I used to feel really bad about how I cheated the government. I was afraid that policemen would come and take me away. I knew it was not right.

“But now I feel happy. I do not like paying taxes. It is a hard job. But I feel that the Lord is pleased when I do a good job. I am very glad to be a honest man.

“That is how Zaccheus felt when he was not Cheater Zaccheus any longer. I expect that he became known as Honest Zaccheus.”