Jesus Knows Your Name, Not Your Labels

“He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."”Luke 19:1-10 I really love this story in Luke about the sinner and tax collector, Zaccheaus . You see this story tells us of a man who had many names or labels given to him. But when he heard Jesus was coming, he rushed ahead of everyone to see him. He was a short guy and so he had to climb a tree to see Jesus. When Jesus came he looked up, saw him, called him by his name and told him he was staying with him. What’s so interesting to me is that Jesus knew who he was just like He knows who we are. He doesn’t know us by the labels that other have given us. He know us by who we really are. Just as Jesus knew Zaccheaus, though widely considered a cheat, sinner and tax collector, He knew his heart was pure and was redeemed. Everything changed that day he saw Jesus just as everything changes for us when we see Jesus. What’s my point of sharing this story? Well, it’s simple. I talked about being who God wants us to be and not what others expect us to be. To be that person we need to be able to see and know Jesus. He is what matters in the end. The beauty of it all, is Jesus knows us already. He’s got an open invitation to us and others to know him too. Once you get to know Jesus, you can begin to find that person you’ve been searching for within. You are uniquely made in His image. You are perfect in his eyes. You are loved and most importantly, you are forgiven. Have a great weekend. Be Nice. Grace Wins.