“A grown man climbed a tree…”  Devotional #21

         

            I’m afraid of heights.  Most of my childhood was spent in New York City.  My father drove the family car and my mother used public transportation, mainly the trains.  I can remember holding on to the stair rails that were right off of the train platforms for “dear life.”  Mind you I was completely safe but I didn’t feel safe.  Walking to the edge of the platform to check if the train was coming never made sense to me.  What was the purpose of “risking your life” just to check if the train was coming?  Since I had no choice but to ride these trains, and most of the time I was on platforms that were higher than some buildings, my fear of heights got worst over time.

When I was in the sixth grade my family and I lived in Puerto Rico for a few months and during that time I attended school there. There was this tree in the school courtyard.  Every day during lunch the tree was full of kids that enjoyed climbing it, they always looked and sounded like they were having so much fun.  Up until then I had never climbed a tree.  I wanted in on this fun and so I talked myself into climbing this tree.  Even though I was afraid I did it!  I remember the first time I climbed it!  A girl that was afraid of heights climbed a tree!  Not a bad day for me, wouldn’t you agree? 

There’s a story of a man in the Bible that decided to climb a tree one day and that was the day that changed his life forever!  Luke 19:1-4, “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.”  (NIV)

It seems to me that Zacchaeus didn’t think too much about climbing a tree, not as much as I did anyway.  He just ran to it and climbed.  Now this man was considered the scum of the earth.  He was a chief tax collector for the Roman Empire.  Taxes were important to the Romans because it helped finance their empire.  The taxes imposed on all the nations in the empire were always high and on top of that tax collectors were known to overcharge the people.  Now Zacchaeus was not only a tax collector but a chief tax collector.  He was considered a traitor to the Jewish community because he worked for Rome and his wealth only meant that he was cheating the people out of their money.

Jesus on the other hand did not despise this man.  He loved him.  He wanted to spend time with him.  He wanted to change his life.  He sought Zacchaeus and wanted to save him, even though he was who he was.  Luke 19:5-6, “When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘“Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today.”’  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” (NIV)  The crowd disapproved and made sure Jesus knew it. 

Luke 19:7, “All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.”’ Hold the phone everybody!  Jesus was in the presence of a sinner!  Hello!  Didn’t they know that they were all sinners!  They viewed him as a sinner but not themselves.  Interesting isn’t it?  Aren’t people this way even today?  There are many people that are so quick to judge others…so quick to pass blame…so quick to get angry when anyone pays any attention to anyone deemed “bad,” “not good enough,” “shameful,” “distrustful,” “a waste of time.”  Jesus didn’t care about their reaction nor does He care about what anybody thinks about you or me today.  Zacchaeus didn’t defend himself or get angry with anyone for being upset that the Lord was going to his house.  What he did was do something rather noble.

Luke 19:8, “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”’  (NIV)  Four times the amount!  By offering to give this money Zacchaeus was reflecting what was in his heart, change.  He had changed!  Not by his doing but by Jesus’ work in him.  Luke 19:9-10, “Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”’  Jesus doesn’t care where you’ve been, He just cares about where you’re going! 

So, a grown man climbed a tree.  He was despised.  He was avoided.  Yet he was sought by the Savior.  He not only had Jesus at his house as the guest of honor he was also saved.  Not a bad day for Zacchaeus, wouldn’t you agree? 

 

My dear friends thanks for visiting my blog and reading this devotional.  I appreciate  you and am constantly praying for you.  God bless you and yours.

 

*If you would like to read this same devotional in Spanish or know of someone that would please visit my Spanish blog at www.ministerioreflejandolaverdad.blogspot.com