Luke 19:1-10 - Seeking Him above all
Scripture:
Luke 19:1-10
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through.
2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich.
3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.
4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.
5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house."
6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly.
7 When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."
8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much."
9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.
10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
NASU
NASU
Thoughts:
Zaccheus really wants to see Jesus. He pulls out all the stops to just try and even catch a glimpse of Him as He passes by (verses 3-4). He's willing to even humiliate himself by running ahead and climbing a tree, despite his important position (verse 1).
It's no wonder this is a popular Sunday school story, what a joyful picture this is! Zaccheus stops at nothing to see Jesus, and Jesus receives him despite his flaws or the thoughts of others (verse 7).
Upon reading these verses, one thing we must ask ourselves is, do I seek after Jesus with this same reckless abandon we see in Zaccheus? Am I willing to even face embarrassment to spend time with Him? Look at Zaccheus, a grown man climbing a tree -- is my zeal for the Lord such that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to spend time with Him?
Most of us will never have to climb a tree to see Jesus, but what about getting alone with Him regularly in a time of devotion? Do we think of this as more important than the endless pressures of our day? Do we fear what others will say if they catch us in a time of prayer or reading from the Bible, or find out that we attend church?
And yet Jesus is ready to spend time with each one of us, just as He warmly received Zaccheus (verse 5).
Prayer:
Lord, I want to be as Zaccheus, every day. My time with You is the most important part of my life, I want my actions to show it!
Help me to be genuine everywhere I go. Not hiding my relationship with You, or making it look different than it really is. May I walk with You obediently, today.
Amen
