So, there is this brown journal in my office, I remember getting the journal from my friend John - he had one and I asked him where he got it. A day later, he brought me one. You know, I never forget stuff like that. Not too long ago my friend Brad (some of you know him as B.Coop) had a bible laying on his desk, I asked him where he got it and he handed me a spare bible from under his desk. Just like that, boom. I never forget stuff like that because it is an act of love. Whether these guys (John & Brad) knew it, what they did had an affect on me that will last a lifetime. That is Jesus. Jesus reached out in kindness everywhere he went. In the Gospels, he was constantly reaching out. The blind, the sick, the poor, the rich, the confused - everywhere you look in the Word He was reaching out. And then, putting His money where His mouth was... He would not just reach out, but He would impact. I mean look in Luke 19, Jesus reaached out to a dude named Zach. Jesus walked right up to him and asked if they could hang.
I find it cool that Zach was so desperate to see who Jesus was that he climbed up in a tree. I can picture some Danny Devito looking guy up in an old tree hanging on for dear life, waiting and hoping that Jesus doesn't take a side road. And as he is uncomfortably strattling a sycamore limb Jesus sees him and calls for him to come down. I noticed two things in this story. First, Zach's efforts paid off. No, he didn't know the best way to get to this teacher, but he was desperate. The second thing I noticed is that once Zach climbed the tree he didn't have to flag Jesus down or yell - he just sat there.... and Jesus called to him. I believe Christ saw how desperate Zach was and He called to him. Now Zach could've stayed in the tree, I mean, imagine if he had stayed up in the tree, I wouldn't be writing about this or perhaps the ending would be different. But Zach got down and connected with his Savior face to face. It blows my mind that that's it, that's all Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to be desperate about connecting with Him. He wants us to climb a tree, to get over and above the routines of this world that crowd our view of Him. If we look - He will seek and find us. What a comfort.