A wee little man WAS he !

Yesterday in our Sunday School we spent some time looking at the account of Zacchaeus in Lk.19. Hopefully this will be some new stuff if you were there yesterday morning !  Zacchaeus is a fascinating LITTLE figure in the New Testament and the whole story teaches us reams of applications we can implement in our lives to glorify the Lord.  One is we see Jesus seeking out a person who was not very well liked. Yet despite public opinion shouldn’t God’s will be our guide?  After Jesus’ new little friend got saved, Christ reminded us that He came to “seek and to save that which was lost” (vs.10) !!  If you stop and think about it, there is probably someone in your sphere of influence who is a real “buggar”, God wants that person to be your sibling in Christ one day if they arent saved and since Christ died for them too shouldn’t we do all we can to make that happen? Pray for them, show Christ to them, and maybe one day they will respond to the Lord and become like Zacchaeus too !

I’ve often thought about Zacchaeus that being a tax collector under the Roman system in Israel he would not exactly have been the guy everyone wanted to hang out with !  I’ll bet after the parties subsided and his “friends” slapped him on the back and told him what a great guy he was and he called it a day he was a very lonely man.  Jesus’ invite must’ve shocked him to the core when He said, “make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” (vs.5).   I can picture him sitting on a branch on that sycamore tree stunned and then looking back to see who Jesus was talking to never dreaming it was him — but wait He called MY name !!    Jesus knows all the sins we’ve done, He knows we’re not paragons of virtue, yet He knows us intimately and marvel of marvels, in His grace, wants to be with us too !   When we do sin often we’re prone to become like Adam and Eve (hiding from God, duh -He’s omnipresent !!!) but God knows our frail frame and wants us to draw near to Him !   Its up to us to confess & forsake sin and sup with our gracious God.

So Zacchaeus tasted the grace of God that day. And there are plenty of people around us who need to as well. Maybe even YOU !  And when we do there will always be change for the better, rest assured. For the little first century IRS agent there was: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” (vs8).  Could be you’re lonely,  a little discouraged, a little complacent and needing to be a better missionary to some publican around you – whatever the need His grace can fill it if you let Him.   We’re all kind of small, but our God, well, He’s pretty big !