He was despised and detested. He was corrupt and crooked. He was a scoundrel and a sinner. His name was Zacchaeus and everyone hated him; everyone but Jesus.
Having lived in dishonesty for a majority of his life, he longed for something different. His emptiness and void propelled him to run before the crowd to meet Jesus. Wanting a prominent and obvious position he climbed up into a sycamore tree and waited for Christ and the congregation to arrive. Zacchaeus was literally living life on a limb.
When Jesus saw Zacchaeus, He invited him to come down. From that moment on Zacchaeus accepted Christ as his Savior and was forever changed. The notorious scoundrel was now a newly-converted believer.
Jesus didn’t leave Zacchaeus in a tree. When life was on the limb for this sinner, Jesus helped him find his way to eternal life. We are to do the same thing for sinners today.
We should go where they are, invite them to come down to meet Christ, and lead them to the way that is right and holy. You will not have to look very far in your life today to see multitudes of people just like Zacchaeus; they are living life on a limb. Why not help them down?