“Zaccheas was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a Sycamore tree the Savior for to see.”
There was a little kid once who lived in New York City. Years ago, there were many musically talented people, preachers, mimes and all sorts of talented people who would perform right on the street corners, among the crowds mulling around in the city. One of the street shows included a magician. People clapped, laughed and ooohed at the magician. The little kid wanted to see the act. Scooting around to the right the child was met by tall people. Squeezing to the left – again – tall people. Finally, on tip toes, the kid could barely make out the performer’s head. As this child prepared to be amazed with the crowd guess, what stepped right in front? Yep - a tall person. Where’s a Sycamore tree when you need one?
The child missed the magician because of the crowd. Zaccheas was missing Jesus because of the crowd. Crowds take up space and block views.
Consider this question:
What’s blocking you from getting close to the Savior?
With so many details of life surrounding us, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. It’s easy to let the Lord walk on while a mob of misplaced priorities comes between us.
Take a que from Zack. Get ahead and above the crowd. Look beyond it. Whatever it takes to get a clear view of Jesus…do it! The mass of things begging for our attention, or stepping between the Lord and us rarely subsides unless we deliberately force them to. Our wee little friend ran ahead of the multitude and climbed.
When Jesus got to the tree where Zaccheas was perched He stopped and told him to come down. The Lord doesn’t want us just to get above the crowd, or watch Him from some lofty, far out location. He wants us to walk with Him, talk with Him and spend a lot of time with Him.
Zaccheas may have been a wee little man, but through Jesus, he became great. When we become wee little (less self-centered and pre-occupied with ourselves), we’ll then be ready to be used by God as well.
Take a moment now to ask God to help you think more highly of Him than you do of yourself and your own interests so that he can position you for His service.