The Interactive Notebook

Scripture Dissection - Listen to the Call

"And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." -Luke 19:1-10

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We've all heard this story before. We've all sang the song.

...Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he....

Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was going to be in town and was curious, so because of his short stature - let's just say he was vertically challenged - he climbed a sycamore tree to see Him. Now, Zacchaeus was a tax collector. In fact, he was a chief tax collector, the highest of the tax collectors, so this man was close to the top of the food chain in his times. With such an abundance of money, he had everything he wanted at the snap of his fingers. This has lead us to wonder, was Zacchaeus really that curious, or was he searching for something more in Jesus?

He was rich, he had everything, but nobody liked him. As a result, he had this void inside him, this emptiness that he was simply longing to be filled. No matter how much money or how much power he had, something was still missing and deep down he knew that.

That day he found exactly what he was searching for. Jesus.

Are you like Zacchaeus? Do have a void of loneliness that is eating away at your spirit? Are you not satisfied with the things of this world, no matter how much you obtain? Are you still searching for something to fill in that empty space? Well, today I am telling you that you can find it, or better yet, Jesus will find you! All you have to do is take that one step and Jesus will find you like He did Zacchaeus in that tree. Jesus wants to stay with you, to tell you that He loves you and cares about you... And that's just one limb up the tree away.

If you look farther down in the Scripture you'll notice that when Jesus spotted Zacchaeus, He called him out of the by his name. If you recall, Zacchaeus was a sinner. He taxed people out of bounds and gave the money to the Romans, and Jesus knew that. Guys, Jesus knows you. He knows that you're reading this right now, He knows that some people may not like you, He knows what you're thinking about in the back of your mind, He knows about your sin, hidden or not.

Satan knows your name but calls you by your sin.
Jesus knows your sin but calls you by your name.

Jesus called Zacchaeus out by his name in spite of everything he had done in his life, and He will do the same for you! Doesn't it just make you feel so special to know that Jesus knows your name and calls you by your name?! It sure does to me! Saved or not, Jesus is calling out your name RIGHT NOW, calling you to His good will. Listen to the call. Allow Jesus to fill that void because believe me, He will fill it with the greatest peace, joy, and hope like you've never felt before!

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

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Wooh! Mini sermon!🙌

Haha!😂

Hope you guys are having a wonderful day!! 💙

Please pray for me, that I may continue to stay strong in my faith and that I am able to be the good Christian I need to be. I've been struggling with my flesh and spirit a lot lately, and I feel guilty, dirty. I know this is just a slip up, but please pray that I am able to get back up and stay up. I will pray the same for you guys as well, as I'm sure we all feel this same way sometimes.

Stay strong!💪👍

God bless!
•BPL