Climb Your Tree - Daily Devotional Spetember 26th 2009

Daily Bible Reading - 1 Chronicles 9, Ezekiel 22, Luke 19

Climb Your Tree

Luke 19 starts out with such a fascinating story, the story of a man who was too short to see Jesus above the crowd. Desperate to see Jesus He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree just to get a glimpse of Jesus. That decision would forever change the life of the man named Zacchaeus.

The thing that is so amazing about this story is that God knew there would be a short man named Zacchaeus living in that town and in the exact place when Jesus walked by. He knew that Zacchaeus would not be able to see Jesus when He passed by because he would not be able to see through the crows. Knowing all of this God caused a big sycamore tree to grow in just the right spot so that Zacchaeus would be able to climb it and see Jesus.

This is how amazing God is and he does this same thing for you and I today. God wants you to be able to see Him therefore he puts opportunities in your life so that you can do just that. He puts trees, if you will, in places that you will be so that you can see His amazing goodness. Those opportunities can and will forever change your life if you choose to climb your tree. This will not just happen one time but it happens throughout your whole life so you can continue to see Him and how awesome He is.

Today I climbed a tree and He showed me once again how awesome He is. You see sometimes as a pastor dealing with all the cares of people you can sometimes loose site of Jesus. Today though, my life was forever changed again. Yesterday my mom lost her wedding ring in Mission Bay. It was given to her 51 years ago by my dad who passed away 3 months ago. This was devastating to her. I went back and looked as much as I could the day it happened but this morning I got up early and thought I would look one more time. I was not too full of faith but I prayed the whole way there. When I arrived to look the water was murky and it was hard to see anything. I felt like Zacchaeus trying to see Jesus through the crowd. I looked a couple of times and then I said one more prayer. As soon as I got done praying I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit so clearly say stop and turn left. I listened and there was the ring sitting on the sand under the water. I was so overwhelmed with joy but even more so with how amazing God is. This was my opportunity to have my faith renewed and to see Jesus at work in my life. As simple as this seems God used this for me to see Jesus, it was my sycamore tree.

I often wonder what would have happened if God would not have put that tree there. Or what would have happened if Zacchaeus would not have climbed the tree and saw Jesus. After all, this was a life changing event for him. This morning as I write this devotional I am wondering the same thing for me. What would have happened if I would have not chosen to go out and look for the ring one more time. I would have not only missed out on the opportunity to see the smile on my moms face when I gave it her but I would have missed out on hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit and Him reminding me how awesome He is.

Today I am so glad that I climbed my tree and got to see Jesus. How about you what areas in your life have you not been able to see Jesus because of obstacles in the way. Maybe it is time you look for your tree and begin to climb so you can see how awesome He is.

Tomorrows Bible Reading - 1 Chronicles 10, Ezekiel 23, Luke 20

Dream Big
Ben