This morning I witnessed one of the most thoughtless acts of indifference I have ever seen. As I started to pump gas into my car another man finished and went inside. In a few moments he returned to his car with a handful of lottery scratcher tickets. By this time there were two cars waiting behind his car to pull up to the pumps. He was totally oblivious and sat in his car and scratched his tickets without moving his car away from the gas pump.
I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest that he was so self-absorbed with his lottery tickets that he never noticed the other cars. Alternative explanations are even worse. When I finished and drove away he was still sitting in the same place.
Could it be that I am so wrapped up with me and my concerns that I don’t notice others? I hope not. I wonder if anyone noticed Zacchaeus in that tree except Jesus. The good thing to note is Jesus saw him. He paused looked up and called him by name. That must have been a thrill for Zacchaeus. Our names are important and this Great Man knew his. Then the thrill got even bigger. He invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ home for dinner. Zacchaeus would never have invited Jesus to his home. Not because he didn’t want Him. He just never would have dreamed that would happen to someone like himself.
Out of all the amazing things we can say about Jesus one of the more important was His notice of and concern for others. A woman touched the hem of His robe. Jesus noticed. Do you have a care or concern today? I guarantee that Jesus has noticed and cares.
Written by Roger Bothwell on March 4, 2015
Spring of Life, PO Box124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org