How desperate are you?
Luke 19:1-10(MSG) Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by. When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?” Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.” Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”
Are you desperate for Jesus?
In this passage, we note that a man, Zacchaeus, desperately wanted to see Jesus. The problem was that he was short and couldn’t see over the crowd. Furthermore, the crowd was in his way. This did not stop this little man. He climbed up in a tree so that he could see Jesus. He ran ahead of Jesus, waiting for Jesus in the tree. The Bible says that when Jesus got to the tree, Jesus saw him and said to him: Today is my day to be a guest in your home.
Zacchaeus was not happy to be part of the crowd; he was not happy to see Jesus from a distance; he was desperate for Jesus. He decided that he was not going to be part of the crowd, he wanted a touch from Jesus, and he wanted to be in the inner circle of Jesus. He had the desire to be close to Jesus. He had decided that: Today is going to be my day! Jesus’s response to this behavior was: Today is my day to be a guest in your home. Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus with him.
“Zacchaeus realized that the answer was not in himself, he could not make himself grow. The answer was in a tree. The tree, which represents Calvary, enlarged Zacchaeus. The tree allowed him to see Jesus. And more importantly, the tree made it possible for Jesus to see Zacchaeus’ desperation. When you get in the tree called Calvary, Jesus sees what is in your heart and how much you desire it.” – Jentezen Franklin
In the Bible, we notice a pattern in which Jesus is passing by, and the people’s desperation makes Him to meet their needs. We know that God is sovereign,
He knows all things and He can do whatever He wants. However, the fact that
He would like us to call after Him in faith is evident in His Word.
Jesus could have just passed by, but He saw what Zacchaeus did, and Zacchaeus’s action moved Jesus’s heart. So much so, that He went to Zacchaeus’s house and changed his life forever.
Are you desperate enough? Jeremiah 29:13-14(MSG) “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” GOD’S Decree. “I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—GOD’S Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.
Psalm 27:4(Bubna Paraphrase Version) “There is genuinely only one thing I need and want from God, I want to behold him and live in his presence every moment and every day of my life. I long to look upon his incredible beauty, and to passionately worship him with the community of faith.”