STOP AT NOTHING IN YOUR PURSUIT OF CHRIST

September 22, 2016

STOP AT NOTHING IN YOUR PURSUIT OF CHRIST

Luke 19:1–10

Ben Lawrence

Central Truth

Sometimes, it is easy to give up after failing once or twice. Zacchaeus, however, was willing to go to great lengths to see Jesus. Initially hindered by his small stature and a large crowd, Zacchaeus did not stop until he reached Jesus.

So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:4-5)

Jesus and Zacchaeus

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

We have all done something in which we don’t succeed the first time. I think back to my sophomore year of high school. More than anything else, I wanted to be a Mathlete (yes, that is a thing). To be on the Mathlete team, I had to consistently score in the top four in my school. So, I studied every night and went to every competition. But even after long hours of practice, I did not make the team that year. I felt like a failure and thought I would never become one of the revered Mathletes.

As Christians, we sometimes take the same approach with our faith. We pray for God to do something, and it doesn’t happen right away. We try to share the Word and are rejected. We say we won’t do that sin again, but we continue to do it. Too often, we are overcome by these events and just give up. We then begin to believe that we will never reach a deeper relationship with Christ. The story of Zacchaeus, however, reveals quite a different truth.

For Zacchaeus, giving up was not an option. He was short, blocked by a crowd, and hated for his occupation. But he never gave up. He could have easily gone home in frustration, but he decided to climb a tree just to see Jesus. After Jesus called him down, the people grumbled at him for being a sinner. But Zacchaeus never faltered in his attempts to follow and please Jesus.

Why does Zacchaeus go to all this trouble to see Jesus, but we sometimes give up after one try? It is because Zacchaeus understood something that we far too often forget—how awesome and amazing a relationship with Christ is. Christ is the bread of life (John 6:35) and our only hope in having an eternal relationship with our Father (John 14:6). Zacchaeus recognized his need for a Savior and would stop at nothing to get it. In the same way, we must continually pursue Christ.

By the way, I continued to study, and my senior year I became the captain of the Mathletes!

1. Describe one time when you trusted God and it didn’t appear to work out, so as a result you stopped pursuing or trusting God in that area of your life.

2. Describe a time when you trusted God, and although it didn’t appear to work out over a long time, you never stopped pursuing God in that area of your life.

3. Think about your upcoming week and identify one place where you can tell someone about Christ. If you tell that person, and it doesn’t work out, try again the next week. Continue to do this and to pray for that friend every week.