Notes

Why Faith is Never Boring When Seen From the Treetops
Julio Iglesias wasn't always in a position to sing. Originally get more info wished to be a professional soccer player. His career dreams were sidelined when a car crash left him paralyzed from the waste down and with little potential for ever walking again. His stay in the hospital lasted several months, and it was during this time period that a nurse gave him a guitar to pass enough time. Julio spent hours on end listening to the air and writing lyrics while attempting to master the instrument, and by enough time he could walk again the span of his existence had been dramatically altered. His life is an exemplory case of how one moment can change everything.

For Zacchaeus, that moment came one afternoon in the town of Jericho. The Bible tells us that Zacchaeus was "a chief tax collector" (Luke 19:2), a profession that at the time was available to extreme abuse. check here had made him a wealthy man, albeit an unpopular one. The course of his life will be drastically changed 1 day when he met an itinerant Rabbi while sitting in a sycamore tree. Luke tells us that "When Jesus reached the tree, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, drop immediately. I must stay at your house today'" (Luke 19:5).

It is a popular story, one which most children are familiar with. Zacchaeus climbs down from the tree declaring he will right the wrongs he has committed, paying back four times the money he cheated anyone out of. But the story is more than a powerful anecdote, it is our story.

We also often find ourselves sitting on a branch, watching the days go by, afraid to totally embrace the voice that's calling out to us. However the amazing thing about this journey of faith is that there surely is person who is walking towards us while we have been sitting in a tree, and he knows us by name. He calls us to climb down and join him in discovering what it means to be fully alive. For those who elect to leave their place of comfort in the sycamore, he offers a possiblity to experience life in the Kingdom of God.

This can be a defining moment to take the step of faith and begin the descent from the branches which were our security for so long. It is easy to get used to the view from up there. But we have been not designed to be spectators, and the main one who calls us by name can be trusted. Luke concludes the story by telling us, "For the Son of Man found seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). The truth is, he's got found us and he offers to show us that there surely is life everlasting beyond the sycamore, we simply have to trust him enough to "drop" and live it.

A former pastor, Tobin holds both a B.A. and an M.A. in theology. Having traveled widely in the Marine Corps and as a graduate student, Tobin has spent the past 15 years gathering some of the world's most powerful life-changing truths. He's the writer of The Life That Is Really Life: How Biblical Truth Can Transform Your Spiritual, Emotional, Physical and Relational Health.
My Website: https://palmer-valenzuela.blogbright.net/why-faith-is-never-boring-when-seen-from-the-treetops