He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
(Luke 19:1-10 ESV)
Jesus seemed to gravitate to the rejected. Zacchaeus was short. Worse than that, he was a rich, greedy CHIEF tax collector - not just an IRS man doing his job, but the boss pushing that man to squeeze people for more. He was the last person others WANTED to see saved. But Zacchaeus was willing to get shorter than short and act like a child, climbing up the tree. That attitude is right up Jesus' alley. Most of all, he was ready and willing to change and follow Jesus. He was willing to pay the price of following Him, and to do so joyfully. What an example of life-changing faith! May we not stand up tall, but be shorter in our own hearts, and demonstrate such simple faith and follow Him.
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