“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully. When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner! “But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:1-10 NASB)
I know that it is Saturday, but my friend, it’s still not too late to write a Sunday Share meditation based on my sermon notes taken at Salt Of The Earth Church (Indianapolis) as Pastor M.R. King preached a sent message. Also, I know it is a holiday weekend and some, not yours truly, will miss going to service this weekend, so at least read what I gathered from the sent message last week.
Pastor made three points; all found in the text. Ah! My favorite words, “In the text.” Here are the points he shared as he focused on having a relationship with Jesus. (1) A relationship requires intentional pursuit. (2) A relationship with Jesus demands a response. (3) A relationship with Jesus produced a transformation. As always, you can listen to the whole message by visiting the Salt Of The Earth’s Facebook or YouTube sites.
I loved the way that Pastor put us in the place of Zaccheus, pointing out that to have a relationship with Jesus, each of us have to come down from our “tree,” responding to the Master’s applicable instructions to come down, for He stops by for us often and tells us to comes down from our “tree” and to do it quickly and gladly, just like Zacchesus. I didn’t get to list all the name of the “trees” that we have to come down from, but here are a few, listed by name. There is the pride tree that will keep us from making progress. There is the grudge tree that will keep is from forgiving and forging ahead to a healed relationship with somebody. There is the temptation tree that we should rush to come down from, being assured that the Lord will give us a way out. There is the wrongful living tree, that we must come down from as Jesus stops by and consequently, when we come down, we can get right with God. Lastly, I noted, in my words, the wages of sin tree, which produces death. We must come down quickly while Jesus is calling and be converted just like Zacchesus. Then eternal death will not be on our itinerary, but rather everlasting life will be on our eternal schedule. Well, have a good day. It’s the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but tomorrow, Sunday, is still the Lord’s Day. Remember Him! Be blessed!
“I recall the many miracles he did for me so long ago. Those wonderful deeds are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about them.” (Psalm 77:11-12 The Living Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King
We have to Seek Him, Aswers Him and Let Him in.. Be Blessed
Seej=k and we wukk find! Yes, we need to let Him in every moment and minute of our lives. Be blessed!
Your response reminded me of the lyrics, “Let Him in today and let Him in to stay!” Let Him in our hearts! Be blessed!