Revelation 3:20 (NIV) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Have you ever stopped and really thought about your “journey” to find Christ? Whether you’ve been walking with Him for 20 years or 20 minutes, I believe there is a period of “seeking” Him. I grew up in a Christian home and knew Christ from a very early age. Sadly though, by my mid-teens I succumbed to peer pressure eventually leading me far, far away from Christ or anything having to do with Him. My road back to Christ was paved with countless heartaches, disastrous mistakes and took over a 30 year period of time. Yet, as I take a conscious look back over my life, I can see that I was never alone. God was there, on every mountaintop and in every pit.

I was reminded of the story of Zacchaeus in a sermon I heard recently and it challenged me to think about my own road back to Christ and do some deeper research into the story of Zacchaeus. During my study, I found out that Jesus was on his way back to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead. He really didn’t even have to go through Jericho. There were other, quicker routes he could have taken.  So why would He go out of his way? I believe Jesus knew what was going to happen with Zacchaeus in the city of Jericho that day.

Zacchaeus was one of the most influential Jews in the Roman tax-collecting business (Luke 19:2 – TLB). He had heard of Jesus and wanted to get a look at Him. Because he was shorter than most, he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a Sycamore tree to get a better look. I wonder what people thought of him as he ran through the crowd? Think about it for just a minute…what would you think if you saw one of the richest men of our time (Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Sam Walton) running through the streets just so he could get a look at a man coming down the road? I don’t think Zacchaeus really cared.  Perhaps he wanted to see the man everyone had been talking about…the miracle worker, the great physician, the One who talked with authority. Scripture really doesn’t tell us.

It was Christ who spoke first.

Okay, so how would you feel if a man you’ve never met before calls you by name and invites himself to your house for dinner? I think several questions would be running through my head. How does he know my name? Since he knows my name what has he heard about me? Does he know I’m a hard-nosed tax collector? No one wants to be in the company of tax collectors!

But Zacchaeus doesn’t ask any of those questions. Luke 19:6 tells us: “So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” (NIV)

Can you just imagine the faces of everyone in the crowd? They probably weren’t much different than those in the crowd today because everyone back then began to talk about it too. Luke 19:7 tell us that all the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

When Jesus walked the earth, everything He did was intentional – for a purpose. Jesus crossed racial, social, and political boundaries to reach the lost. That day, Zacchaeus may have been trying to get a look at Jesus….but it was Jesus who saw Him and spoke first.

This encounter with Jesus changed Zacchaeus’ heart in a big way. He wasn’t the self-centered tax collector he once was. Zacchaeus was a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and he was about to show everyone the inward change by an outward action. He gave back more than he had taken….4 times more!

WOW! Since you’ve said yes to Jesus has  your life changed at all? Can people around you tell you’ve had a heart change by your changed behavior?