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 being a short man he could not, because of 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 what was lost.
The Bible says that Zacchaeus was a short man. He wanted to see Jesus, but because there were lots of people, we could not see anything from the back. His height became a hindrance in his life. Today, many people want to come to know Jesus, but there are also many hindrances in their life, including having no time available. It is normal to be busy in the society today, but we still need to think about why we are so busy. Zacchaeus was a busy chief tax collector, then how come he had time to go see Jesus? Thank God, it wasn't that Zachaeus had time available, but his heart was actually available. He saw that the pursuit of material wealth couldn't give him satisfaction, so he overcame all hindrances to come before Jesus.
To many people, perhaps science is a hindrance, because they think the 21th century should be an era of science, so how can we believe in God? The fact is that science and faith do not conflict, and science can even help us to know God better. A person with a true appreciation for science will also love and have eagerness for the truth. For example, when people praised the great scientist Isaac Newton for his wonderful inventions, he also said humbly: "I didn't invent anything, but I simply found some truth in the immense universe that God created." Science did not become hindrance for his faith, but it actually became his momentum to study science.
Zacchaeus had an eager heart to come to see Jesus, and it was only because he was short and there were many people that he couldn't see Jesus. Thank God that Zacchaeus didn't give up this opportunity to get to know Jesus. He climbed on a sycamore-fig tree and found Jesus from there. In your walk of faith, what is your hindrance? Are you willing to lay down the hindrances and sincerely try to become intimate with God?
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