Zacchaeus was a greedy little man!

If any of you, like myself, were schooled in the 'Children of God' series you may remember a little song on the Zacchaeus of the Gospel. It was a cute little song and painted a picture of who this tax collector was. It went: "Zacchaeus was a greedy little man, he cheated all the people in the land. If they said they wouldn't pay, he would take their farms away, and their furniture and anything they had....etc" I remember that song very well, and I am sure his role in the religion course has propelled him to fame. Nearly everyone knows Zacchaeus.
So who was he? A tax collector and a wealth man; a nasty bit of stuff it would seem. He collected the tax for the Romans and helped himself to whatever he wanted himself. At the time a tax collector had so much to collect, and whatever else he managed to take himself was fine. Not too many checks and balances there. He was also small; he had to climb a sycamore tree to get a view of the Lord as he passed by. He wanted to see Jesus; he was curious. He may not have been to interested in what Jesus had to say, but still he wanted to get a glimps of Him as he passed by. But did he expect to get the attention from Christ that he did? I expect not.
Zacchaeus climbed up a tree, he wanted to see the One everyone was talking about. He was aware, no doubt, that he was not a popular person - to understate it. But like everyone else, he was intrigued by Jesus and he wanted part of the action. Jesus saw him, called him down and told him not only did he want to see him, he wanted to dine with him. I am struck by one thing. Jesus had his mind made up. It wast a case of looking up and seeing a small man in a tree; he saw him as if he knew him already and wanted to go to his house. Zacchaeus was called and he had to come down and his life was changed.
Sometimes we prefer to live in the trees. Off up in the air, secure on our own. The Lord invites us to climb down to meet Him, to be close to Him, to dine with Him. Our smallness maybe sin. It may be regret, guilt, disappointment. It may be pride, when we think that we are just fine up in the tree.
Up in the tree there are only a few branches and leaves, maybe a bird or two.  Its lonely up there, and there is little room to move. To be on the ground, with the Lord, opens up for us a whole new world.
Christ calls us close. When we meet him we change. Our stature is changed and we no longer fear. Jesus wants to dine with us, are we coming down or are we happy aloof by ourselves?