GROWING SEEDS: Short Dude, Weird Name, Noticed By God

"Long before Zacchaeus couldn't see Jesus,

the sycamore tree was already

planted to meet his need."

I wish I could remember where I first heard the quote above.  It's been rolling around in my head for years......picturing this Danny DeVito short dude with a weird name in the back of the crowd as Jesus walked by.  Do you see him jumping as high as his squatty little legs would allow, only to see the backs of everyone's head?  

He suddenly remembers the Sycamore tree up ahead and runs to it...climbs up into it as fast as he can.....just in the nick of time to see Jesus coming down the street with the whole town surrounding Him....a town of people that despised this short little crook with the weird name.  He just wanted a glimpse....didn't actually expect Jesus to notice him......after all, he was the guy in town who cheated people....made a life out of using his IRS badge to take their money fraudulently.  But as Jesus approached the corner of Main and Cheater Streets that day, He stopped, looked straight up into the eyes of Zacchaeus and said, "Get on down from there, Zacchaeus....I'm staying at YOUR house tonight."

It always make me smile as I hit the "Play" button of my imagination on this story in Luke and thinking about the part of this cool story we never give much thought to.  That tree.   Imagine what God was thinking as He created that Sycamore tree so many years earlier, knowing full well what it would be famous for one day.  Imagine that without that tree, this story would look much different.

I fast-forward to the present.  I think about all the things God put into place long before I was even born so they would meet the needs on my path now.  He put them there just for me....and did the same for you.  For some it may be a tree to climb to allow eye-contact with Him, or maybe a person stepping into your life story at just the right time.....or for others, it might be moving you from the noise of the city to the quiet of the country where you can hear His voice for the first time.  

God plans these Salvation moments with precision timing......He patiently waits for that day when you will climb that tree he planted so many years ago for such a time as this, look Him in the eye, and hear these words, 

"Today, salvation has come to this house.  

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost 

(i.e., Lost = You and Me!)." 

Luke 19:9.