"Make Haste"

Zacchaeus was a man hiding in a sycamore tree with the sole purpose of getting a glimpse of Jesus. He knew the route, ran ahead, climbed the tree and waited to see who Jesus was. When Jesus came by, He called out to him and said, ... "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  Luke 19:5-6 

The Word tells us that he was a man that was short of stature.  I vaguely remember a Sunday School song that uses words like "...was a wee little man, a wee little man was he."  For a wee little man he certainly has a couple of important lessons we all need to know and understand. The first lesson is we are not inconspicuous to Him. He sees us and He wants to spend time with us.

There he was, up in a tree, hiding in the background. He was watching, waiting, trying to find out if the things he had heard about Jesus were true. Jesus, looked him in the eye and told him that he needed to "make haste" and come join Him because He was going to spend some time with him. Zacchaeus, without any hesitation immediately made haste, came down and received Him joyfully.

The second lesson is, how do we respond to Him? Every day life can sometimes make us feel that we are watching the things of God take place from a distance when in reality Jesus always has the time to speak our name and to call us so that we come spend some time with Him. Jesus wants to spend time with us every day, so the question is, "Do we respond the way that Zacchaeus did? Do we make haste in order to give Him a place in our lives?"