OUR DAILY BREAD : CALLED BY NAME

[cimi]

December 4
Thursday


CALLED BY
NAME

READ:
Luke 19:1-19
____________________________________________________________________________________________
[Jesus] looked up and
saw him, and said to
him, "Zacchaeus, make
haste and come down,
for today I must stay at
your house."
__Luke 19:5
____________________________________________________________________________________________

At the beginning of the academic year, a school principal in our city pledged to learn the names of all 600 students in her school. Anyone who doubted her ability or resolve could look at her track record. During the previous year she had learned the names of 700 children in a different school. Think of what it must have meant to these students to be recognized and greeted by name.

The story of Zacchaeus and Jesus (Luke 19:1-10) contains a surprising element of personal recognition. As Jesus passed through the city of Jericho, a wealthy tax collector named Zacchaeus climbed a tree in order to see Him. "When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house" (v.5). Instead of ignoring Zacchaeus or saying "Hey, you in the tree," Jesus called him by name. From that moment on, his life began to change.

When it seems that no one knows you or cares who you are, remember Jesus. He knows us by name and longs for us to know Him in a personal way. Our Father in heaven sees us through His eyes of love and cares about every detail of our lives. __David McCasland

```````````````````Father, thank You that my value in Your eyes is not````````````````````````
`````````````````determined by what I do but simply by the fact that You`````````````````````
```````````````````created me. Help me to recognize that same value in````````````````````
`````````````````````````others as I represent you to the world.````````````````````````````
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Jesus knows you by name
and longs you to know Him.

*****************************************Today's Bible reading __ Luke 19:1-10***************************************
1 Then Jesus entered and
passed through Jericho.

2 Now behold, there was a
man named Zacchaeus who
was a chief tax collector,
and he was rich. 3 And he
sought to see who Jesus
was, but could not because
of the crowd, for he was of
short stature. 4 So he ran
ahead and climbed up into a
sycamore tree to see Him,
for He was going to pass
that way.

5 and when Jesus came to
the place, he looked up and
saw him, and said to him,
'"Zacchaeus, make haste and
come down, for today I
must stay at your house."

6 So he made haste and
came down, and received
him joyfully.

7 But when they saw it,
they all complained, saying,
"He has gone to be a guest
with a man who is a
sinner."

8 Then zacchaeus stood
and said to the Lord, "Look,
Lord, I give half of my
goods to the poor; and if I
have taken anything from
anyone by false accusation,
I restore fourfold."

9 And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come
to this house, because he
also is a son of Abraham;

10 For the Son of Man has
come to seek and to save
that which was lost."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>
First-century tax collectors were hated by the people of Israel
because they wee seen as collaborators with the occupying
Romans. Tax collectors often became wealthy at the expense of
their own people. As a result, they were considered defiled and
impure. This is ironic, for the tax collector mentioned here is named
zacchaeus, which means "pure."