Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost. (Lk 19:9-10)
I think that one of the cruelest messages we can send to another person is that they do not matter.
When we get cut out of someone’s life, it hurts. We feel a pain deep within that just does not want to let go.
We begin to care less for ourselves because we often internalize that severing of a relationship. In short, we begin to tell ourselves that we do not matter — to anyone. Not even to God.
Zacchaeus was a person who did not matter. He had been “cut from the fold” long ago because he had “turned traitor”. He had become the chief tax collector and a very wealthy man.
Yet Zacchaeus, just like the rest of us, was looking for more. He desired a deeper relationship with God.
When he heard that Jesus was coming, he tried to find a place along the road where he would be able to see Jesus. But the crowd would give him no room. He did not count. He did not matter to them.
Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus and Jesus called him down and went to his house. At the house, Zacchaeus pledged to do all that he could to embrace God’s law. He had been lost but Jesus brought him back.
We may have done things or said things or left things undone or unsaid that have had the consequence of making us feel lost. We might feel separated from family, friends, Church, or God.
We might be lost.
The Good News is that Jesus — as He did for Zacchaeus — is looking for us as well.
FAITH ACTION: Do you feel lost? Ask the Lord to come into your heart this day. He is seeking you.
If I may be so bold, may I ask you to keep me in your prayers today.
This day, October 30, 2016, is my sixtieth birthday. I cannot believe
it has been this many years already. Please pray that God give me
the grace that I need for however many more years He has in store
for me. Thank you.