Before anything else: God loves you for free. Nobody has to buy his love, because it is already yours.
Play a game with me. If you were given a lot of money, and I mean a lot, what would you buy?
You could buy loads of good things, couldn't you? Toys, a bike, ice cream, a video game. And listen: money is useful and there is nothing wrong with it.
But now think about this. Could you buy a real friend? The kind who notices you are sad before you say anything?
Could you buy sleep, on the night when you are worried and cannot drop off?
Could you buy a hug from your mum? She gives those away free, and even if you gathered all the money in the world she could not squeeze any tighter.
There is a whole shelf of things that are not for sale anywhere. And that shelf is exactly where the best things are kept.
Today's verse is about that. There is a day when money will do no good at all. But being honest does good always.
And now the best story of all. There was a man called Zacchaeus who was very rich and quite dishonest: he charged people extra tax and kept the difference.
One day Jesus was passing through his town. Zacchaeus was short and could not see a thing, so he climbed a tree.
Then Jesus looked up and said: "Hurry down, Zacchaeus, because I must stay in your house today."
Notice something very important. Jesus wanted to go to his house before Zacchaeus gave anything back.
And Zacchaeus was so happy that he decided all by himself to give back half of everything, and four times as much to anyone he had cheated.
Jesus was not bought. He went because he wanted to.