Luke 19:1-27
And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” (v. 8) I was thinking of Zacchaeus in contrast to the incident of Jesus and the earlier young man, the “rich, young ruler”. Zacchaeus and the young man were both wealthy. Jesus had told the young man to go and sell all that he had and follow Him – and the young man went away dispirited. But Zacchaeus offers to give away half of what he has and the Lord honors him. So giving away half – good for Zacchaeus! Giving away all, not so good for the young man.
I think Jesus saw something in these two personalities. Zacchaeus was seeking Jesus – and not asking for anything more; the young man was seeking eternal life – a reward to be obtained. Jesus asked something of each of them – from Zacchaeus He didn’t ask much, from the young man He asked a lot. Jesus has full liberty to ask whatever He will. There is no expectation that He will ask the same from each of us. From those who have little, He may ask a little or a lot. Likewise, from those who have much He may ask a little or a lot. But whatever we do have, He wants it to be used for His Kingdom, not squirrelled away in a handkerchief.
See also: August 24 / Luke 19:1-10; August 25 / Luke 19:10-27
Well, one thing He does ask of all of us. He bids us to come and die.