January 19, 2021 CAC Living Water Devotional : Topic – HINDRANCES TO SEE THE LORD
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Tuesday, January 19, 2021
HINDRANCES TO SEE THE LORD
Read: Luke 19:1-10
Luke 19:1-10 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.
And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
MEMORISE:
And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature (Luke 19:3).
EXPOSITION
Not everyone can see the Lord, until they remove the hindrances before them. There are hindrances that prevent people from seeing the Lord. Carefully looking at the story surrounding Zacchaeus’ life, we discover three hindrances. The first one is physical hindrance. The man was too short to see over the crowd (Lk. 19:3). He found a way out to remove his physical hindrance and he eventually got it as we all know. Physical hindrance can appear in form of poor family background, no influence, no connection and nothing to be proud of. Your physical hindrance is not a barrier to see the Lord, if you can take a step of faith, today.
The second one is social hindrance that happened to Zacchaeus. This hindrance comes in form of stigmatisation. The people murmured when Jesus decided to follow Zacchaeus to his house (vv. 6-7). Although, this man was very rich, yet no one liked to associate with him. Being a government officer, he took advantage of his people to get himself rich. He had to take a step of courage and put shame aside to see the Lord (vv. 4-6). This is exactly the step you need to take, if you are a type no one approves in the society.
Lastly, there is spiritual hindrances. This hindrance comes when one is living in sin. You can remove this hindrance by confessing and forsaking your sin (Prov. 28:13). Zacchaeus knew that the source of his wealth was not good. Therefore, He quickly took a step of restitution (vv. 8-10). Is there any known sins in your life? Do you need to make a certain restitution for you to have free access to God? You can do it now before it will be too late for you.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Father, give me victory over the lifestyle that does not allow me to enjoy fellowship with You.
2. I stand against all physical, social and spiritual hindrances in my way to see the Lord.
3. Pray for the backsliders to do away with whatever that creates a gap between them and God.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Genesis 39:3 – 41:20; Matthew 13:2 – 13:23