THE LESSON OF THE SYCAMORE TREE

Reference text: Luke 19:1-10

Scripture provides one description of Zachaeus, and that was the fact that ‘he was rich’. Reading further, it becomes rather obvious that he had not become wealthy by chance. He had become someone who had developed great resourcefulness in the midst of what others would describe as challenging times.

In today’s account, he had set his target as ‘desiring to see who Jesus was’. However, for that, he encountered two challenges – the crowd and his already small stature. So what does he do? He rans ahead and climbed a sycamore tree along the path where Jesus would pass.

When the obstacles we face appear insurmountable, there are times when we don’t even make the effort in the face of challenges. However, it is not always about struggling with the crowd, sometimes it is about leveraging the height of the sycamore tree because of the crowd.

This is not about using men to rise, but there times when you achieve your targets and goals not because you fought hardest, but because you found a suitable platform standing on the shoulders of others who lend you their strength and ability. That is your sycamore tree! But like Zachaeus, you have to run on ahead to find it.

#sly