Praise be to Him Who Saves! ~ a Scribbling...

Image by Karl Egger from Pixabay - Please Note: this is not a sycamore fig tree.

Jesus is coming! He has entered Jericho! He is coming! 

Shouts such as these rang throughout the city and I abandoned my tax booth excitedly, nearly forgetting to lock it up. 

I had heard much of the Man called Jesus and desired to see who He was. I ran towards the large crowd surrounding Him, but it was so tightly packed I could not pass through. 

“Zacchaeus, what do you want?” A man asked roughly. 

“I want to see Him, the Man Jesus. Please let me through.” I answered. 

“I will not let a thieving tax collector through to see Him.” The man replied. He turned his back on me. 

I tried several times to get inside the crowd, but those who didn’t know me, made fun of my height.

“Get back, you might be trampled in the crowd, little man.” They jeered. 

I could tell that the crowd was coming in my direction, so I ran ahead to a great sycamore tree beside the road. Quickly scaling it, I peered down through the branches and tried to get a glimpse of Jesus. 

There He was! He was walking in my direction! He turned and walked over to the base of the tree! 

“Zacchaeus,” He said, “come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 

I scrambled down the tree. Jesus wanted to come to MY house? “Yes, yes, my Lord. Please do come,” I answered. 

But I heard men muttering, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 

Suddenly I faced Jesus and began taking off my outer cloak and the jewelry I wore. “Look Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor.” I gave my belongings to several poor beggars beside us. “And if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 

I was oblivious to the astonished men who knew my previous reputation because Jesus looked at me with a face full of love and said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” 

To save what was lost.

I was lost, but am no longer.

Now, I am clean and saved by the Son of God who sought me out even though I was a sinner.

Praise be to Him who saves! 

---

I hope you enjoyed this Biblical fiction "Scribbling" and I encourage you to open up your Bible and read the story of Zacchaeus as found in Luke 19:1-10.

May God bless and keep you.

May God make His face shine upon you.

May He look upon you with favor and give you peace.

~ Leah Beth 💖