Career Blog

Julio Iglesias wasn’t always able to sing. Originally the entertainer wanted to be a professional soccer player. His career dreams were sidelined when a car accident left him paralyzed from the waste down and with little chance of ever walking again. His stay in the hospital lasted several months, and it was during this time that a nurse gave him a guitar to pass the time. Julio spent hours on end listening to the radio and writing lyrics while trying to master the instrument, and by the time he could walk again the course of his existence had been dramatically altered. His life is an example of how one moment can change everything.

            For Zacchaeus, that moment came one afternoon in the city of Jericho. The bible tells us that Zacchaeus was “a chief tax collector” (Luke 19:2), a profession that at the time was open to extreme abuse. Zacchaeus’ dishonest practice had made him a wealthy man, albeit an unpopular one. The course of his life would be drastically changed one day when he met an itinerant Rabbi while sitting in a sycamore tree. Luke tells us that “When Jesus reached the tree, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today’” (Luke 19:5).

            It is a popular story, one that most children are familiar with. Zacchaeus climbs down from the tree declaring that he will right the wrongs he has committed, paying back four times the amount of money he cheated anyone out of. But the story is more than a powerful anecdote, it is our story.

            We also often find ourselves sitting on a branch, watching the days go by, afraid to fully embrace the voice that is calling out to us. But the amazing thing about this journey of faith is that there is one who is walking towards us while we are sitting in a tree, and he knows us by name. He calls us to climb down and join him in discovering what it means to be fully alive. For those who choose to leave their place of comfort in the sycamore, he offers a chance to experience life in the Kingdom of God.

            It is a defining moment to take the step of faith and begin the descent from the branches that have been our security for so long. It is easy to get used to the view from up there. But we are not meant to be spectators, and the one who calls us by name can be trusted. Luke concludes the story by telling us, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). The truth is, he has found us and he offers to show us that there is life everlasting beyond the sycamore, we simply have to trust him enough to “come down” and live it.