What would you do to meet a celebrity? Taylor Swift, a famous pop/country artist, goes out of her way to show appreciation for her fans. On June 2011, Taylor Swift did a 13-hour meet and greet with her fans just so everyone who wanted to meet her could. While she was driving by the mall, she saw a teen wearing one of her tour T-shirts. She made a quick u-turn and searched for the girl inside the mall. After a few minutes of searching, she found the 11-year old girl inside a video game store and introduced herself to her and says, "Oh, hi. I wanted to meet you." The girl was speechless for about 3 minutes. Her mom walks over bursting into tears and explains to Taylor Swift that she drove all the way from Austin, Texas just to see her in concert.
In the first 10 verses of Luke 19, we read about the story of Zaccheus. His name literally means "pure" but everyone hated Zaccheus because he was a publican/tax collector and he was rich. He heard that Jesus was coming to town and he was interested in seeing Him. In the previous chapters in Luke, Jesus performed miracles: He made the lepers clean; He heals the servant of a centurion; He feeds a multitude by the thousands. Whatever miracle Jesus did for other people, Zaccheus wanted it for himself. As a matter of fact, Zaccheus was so interested in Jesus that he had the sense of urgency to find the nearest tree just so he can have a physical sight of Jesus. However, the Son of Man wanted to give Him more than than. Zaccheus had enough faith to not be embarrassed about seeking Jesus. Think about it. A lot of things could have gone wrong that day but Zaccheus was focused on seeing Jesus. A midget tax collector climbing a sycamore tree could have fallen in front of hundreds of people, but that wasn't even on his mind. But before Zaccheus even heard of Jesus, God had a plan to change his life. Jesus would bless Zaccheus' house with His presence in front of a multitude in Jericho to show them that the Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.
The same message applies to you. God has a plan for you even before you heard of Him and made a decision to receive Him joyfully in your life. In Romans 8:27-30, it says that He has a plan for those who love Him, and love starts with a relationship.
