Day 26 - Enjoy the Silence

Luke 19:1-10 -------

¹Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ²A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

⁵When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." ⁶So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "

⁸But 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."

⁹Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Hey you guys. What's shaking? Okay, so read this and imagine you are the guy in the tree, and you can see Jesus coming.

You wanted to see Him for a long time, but what are you feeling as He approaches? You hiding? If so, from who? And why? In what ways do you feel your life is "out on a limb"? What are some feelings that make you want to stay in that tree?

No doubt, that part of what made Zacchaeus, let's call him "Zac", reluctant to climb down were the faces of the townspeople who looked up at him. Think there is an any people who's faces keep you up in your tree? Who? WHy do they intimidate you from coming down? What thoughts, fears, etc, do you think "Zac" had to lay aside in order to have this encounter with this man named Jesus? What might those thoughts and fears be in your life?

Consider the before "Zac" who was waiting in the tree to see Jesus, and the after "Zac" who actually encountered Jesus. What difference did meeting Jesus making in Zac's life? What difference has meeting Jesus made in your life? What areas of you life are Jesus asking you to make right? How can you begin to do that?

Jot down some thoughts folks.

-Colton