ORANGE —
There is a story in the Bible of a man who was quite rich.
He was a man, short in stature, in more ways than one.
This particular man was not very tall so he took resources into his own hands and climbed a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. And he was desperate to see Jesus.
Many times when Jesus would come into town, word would get out that He was on His way. People would crowd the narrow streets to try and get a look at Jesus or try getting a touch, from the man they had heard could cure your ills.
To his surprise and everyone else’s, Jesus stops and calls him out saying “get down because I am going to your house.”
This angered Jesus’ critics because of the man’s short stature and his habit of taking things into his own hands. I mean that literally.
Remember the story starts out saying that this is a rich man; well he got his wealth underhandedly. He was a crooked tax collector who charged and took more than his due.
The people were angry that Jesus would choose to honor him with His presence in his home because of his short stature in the area of ethics. You can find the story of Zacchaeus in the Gospel of Luke 19:1-10.
Zacchaeus was up a tree all right.
Everyone knew what he was and what his life was about, and it put him out on a limb.
Are you beginning to see the brilliance of this story? It is one of my favorite stories because of the crafty way it was written and told.
That night when Jesus entered his home, Zacchaeus had a life changing experience saying: “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.”
So how do we apply this story to our lives? Let me ask you, “Whom are you shortchanging in your life, your spouse or your children? Or are you only doing half your load at work and you are shortchanging your boss and co-workers? Are you a teacher who doesn’t prepare your lessons and are you shortchanging your students? Or are you shortchanging your Creator, and His church? If so, what do you plan to do about it?”
I would suggest you turn to Jesus like Zacchaeus did.
It was his smartest move.
It put him on solid ground with his Savior.
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