Above the Crowd!

Luke 19:1-10 "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 because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way. 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. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 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.” 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 the lost.” In my opinion this story is very profound! Here you have Jesus, the most sought after man in Jericho deciding to mingle with a known sinner. But you see, Jesus saw the big picture. Though Zacchaeus was short he showed a great amount of integrity. Not only did he go out of his way to find out who Jesus was for himself, once he was given the opportunity he began to repent and confess before Jesus, even in front of the crowd. Zacchaeus also saw the big picture. It does not matter what sins you have committed, and it does not matter how long you have been in sin. What matters is your willingness to change. Though people in the crowd had negative things to say about Zacchaeus to Jesus, Zacchaeus did not allow that to detour him. He knew he wanted what Jesus had...salvation and he went out of his way (well up in a tree) to get it. Jesus recognized Zacchaeus' willing heart and declared salvation upon his life! What about you? Will you make the decision to go above the crowd and give your life to Christ like Zacchaeus? Will you ignore the nay-sayers and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Don't be afraid. Don't let anyone tell you that your too big of a sinner to receive the salvation of the Lord! Go above the crowd "climb that tree," and get your salvation. Think about it!