Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. Hosea 6:3 (NLT)
Zacchaeus. What do we know about him? When we talk about this story we comment on the fact that he was short. That’s why he climbed the tree. We comment on the fact that he was rich. And those riches got him some enemies. He came by his riches by working for the Romans, who were hated by the Jews. He collected taxes for them. As a matter of fact, he was so good at it that he was the head tax man. And everyone knew that he skimmed extra off the top of the taxes for himself.
There is one thing about him that we don’t talk about as much. In Luke 19 in the Message it says he wanted desperately to see Jesus. The Holy Spirit was working on Zacchaeus and his desire to see Jesus was more than he could handle.
So he went into the crowd of people that despised him. I am sure when he said “Excuse me, I need to get through.” they moved closer together to block his way. At that point, he could have given up. He could have said “I am not good enough to know Jesus. I’ll just go back to my work. What would he want to do with me anyway?” But he didn’t.
He followed that pull in his heart. He put aside any thoughts of what the people would say and he did something that could not have been easy in a longish tunic. He climbed a tree. He did everything he could to get a glimpse of the man that his heart was speaking about. He put action behind the longing.
What about you? God is calling to you every single moment. He is the one putting the desire in our hearts to know him; to seek him. What will you do about it? Will you keep doing the same thing you do every day expecting different results or will you make a change? Will you do something different in your life so you can see who Jesus is, so you can get to know him?
I love today’s verse. “Let us press on to know him.” Whether you have to change your routine, start or stop habits, get away for some quiet time or even if you have to climb a tree, press on. Do it! As Zacchaeus experienced, it will change your world.