Come Down Out Of That Tree

Jesus said to him, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house" (Luke 19:5). On this very day, the Savior had a date with a sinner. Zaccheus was not only a hated "Tax-gatherer" but he was a "chief tax-gatherer." Chapter 19 of Luke's Gospel opens up by sharing a divine appointment with man is his predicament (up a tree),that Zaccheus, a sinner, had with the Master of the Universe. It was Zaccheus' day to meet Jesus face to face and answer that all important question (what will you do with this man called Christ?).

I see a few things in the first 10 verses of this chapter that seem important to the character change and heart renewal of a sinner that need to be pointed out. First of all, I see Zaccheus, one of the "chief tax gatherers in the country and Jesus chose Zaccheus on this day. I know it looks like Zaccheus chose Jesus, as he scurried up the sycamore tree to get a glance at the King of Glory but Jesus knew that He would be entertained by this "Tax-Cheat" on this very day.

Another thing I noticed was that the crowd was "grumbling and saying 'He (meaning Jesus) had gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." The crowd here was satan's preference. Satan would love for Zaccheus to see the people he had become rich from collecting taxes, oppose this meeting. They really had no "loss of love" for those who would continually "bleed" the people of their taxes (especially knowing that these guys were becoming wealthy from "scrapping off the top" so to speak)

A third thing noticeable in this passage was that Jesus was the program of the Father here as He said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house..." And then finally, as a result of Zaccheus meeting up with the Savior, he was a new man. Zaccheus says to the Lord in verse 8, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much." Doesn't sound like a man who wanted to be in the company of satan anymore, huh?

Salvation, though the most important step we will take, seems simple to achieve by:

1) Recognizing our sin.
2) Being willing to walk away from satan's crowd (repent and turn from our sins).
3) Recognize our need for a Savior (join in on the Father's plan).
4) Accept the "newness of our salvation"

What is it that keeps you doing what you do every single day that includes God? It's these 4 things above. Once these steps have been sincerely applied to the heart, one cannot help but come down from the tree and ask Jesus to "come in".

Hope you're not still hangin' around in that tree!

Dave