Perhaps you’ve had the not-so-pleasant experience of being out on a limb? Life has you in the air and barely hanging on.
What do you need to know if you’re ever out on a limb? It’s a great question to ask of a successful businessman in the ancient city of Jericho. His name was Zaccheus (or Zacchaeus). I’m sure that many still called him "Little Zack." Though Zaccheus had risen to the top of his professional ladder, he was still plagued by one consuming hindrance: shortness of stature. He was just too short to see over the heads of tall people around him. His life was characterized by forever coming up short.
One day, Zaccheus heard about Jesus and wanted to meet Him. He decided to put away his dignity and climbed up into the branches of a sycamore tree so he could at least get a good look at Jesus.
The limb of that old tree in which he sat represented the end of everything Zaccheus could do in making his life any better. Sitting on that limb, he would discover life’s greatest truths.
Luke 19:5 says that Jesus "looked up and saw him." Zaccheus was probably pretty hard to miss. It wasn’t every day that you saw a sophisticated taxman up a tree.
Though these two men had never been formerly introduced, Jesus looked up into the tree and called Zaccheus by name. Zaccheus must have wondered, "Who told Him my name? How did He know?"
Zaccheus hadn’t always lived up to his name. It means "pure" and suggests that his parents desired to have a son with the qualities of character and integrity. Zaccheus had surely come short of those.
"Make haste and come down for today I must abide at thy house." Jesus’ words caused Zaccheus’ heart to beat faster and prompted him to make life’s greatest decision and invite Jesus to come home with him.
Perhaps you’ve thought about making that same decision. Jesus knows you, loves you and wants to share your life with you. He’s looking your way right now, calling you by your name and asking for you to come to Him.
Invite Jesus into your heart today, and allow Him total access to every part of it. You’ll never be the same again.
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