Uninvited

Monday, April 17

Uninvited
By: Pastor Amie Donovan

“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So, he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” -Luke 19:5-6 NIV


Have you heard the story of Zacchaeus? If you haven’t stop what you’re doing and read Luke 19:1-10.

It’s a powerful testimony, isn’t it? You have this terrible traitor of a Hebrew-turned-Roman puppet who encounters Christ and radically changes all within 10 short verses! Some questions instantly enter our mind when reading this story, such as:

Why did scripture call out Zacchaeus was short?
Why is the crowd so judgy?
What happened that night at dinner when Zacchaeus became a completely different man?


There’s one part of the story that stuck out to me, however.

Zacchaeus gladly welcomed Jesus into his home uninvited.

I don’t know about you but when I have guests over, I like to be prepared! Especially if I have things to hide! I tell my kids to act like someone else raised them and use their manners. I tell my husband that if we’re in a disagreement we need to hide the frustration, so our guests don’t feel it, let alone see it. I lock my dogs up so they don’t jump and shove everything on the counter into a drawer.

Let’s hide the mess of our lives, that is, after all, our business, right?

But not Zacchaeus.

Scripture doesn’t say he went home to hide his sin or his shame. He didn’t shove the expensive things he bought with stolen money in the closet or have time to hide the expensive furnishing that cover the floor. He just allows the LORD in to see him exactly where he’s at.

And that changed everything.

Maybe it’s time we stopped trying to hide from our God what He already knows and start letting Him change the things we’d rather keep our own business.